The Metropolitan Online - March 2005

“Daddy, can you help me? The computer’s acting funny.” Those are the nine words I’ve come to hear quite often. My daughter, who is all of five years old, is a seasoned PC and Internet veteran. When she was one year old, I would hold her on my lap while I did homework or surfed the Web. In between writing Java programs or the occasional paper, my daughter and I would play on the computer together: explore the Internet, play games, or just listen to music and watch the aquarium screensaver.

As she grew older, she wanted to do more and watch less. One of her first coherent sentences was “Daddy, Fia do it?” as she reached for the mouse. Her hands were too small to use it effectively, but she quickly grasped that moving the “mousy” made the “point thing” move around.

While responding to one of Fia’s latest calls for help, I happened to notice that the Web page she had been visiting was not in English. “What’s this?” I asked, trying to determine if I was looking at a webpage written in Dutch, or some new gibberish language made popular by shows like “Teletubbies,” “Boobah,” or the like. It was a foreign language Polly Pocket site. As an emerging reader, she was exploring on her own, and language wasn’t a barrier.

But she’s taken a few additional steps lately, including typing in the URL for her favorite sites. And just last week, I watched her type her name, address, phone number and age into a Web registration form. But I stopped her before she submitted it, and we had a very good discussion about what she should and should not do when she’s on the computer.

Kids gain a wealth of benefits from using computers—improved problem-solving abilities, language and recognition skills, and technological fluency, a skill that is basic to success in today’s society. But kids are targets for exploitation and crime—on- and offline. While younger children are less apt to use email, chat programs or message boards, they can still be targets of unscrupulous behavior.

Example: A Florida company was recently shut down after being presented with a cease and desist order and a multi-million dollar copyright infringement lawsuit. It seems that the company had registered domain names such as disnee.com and cinderela.com and had attached those names to sites featuring (ahem) “adult” content. Their sites would launch numerous pop-up windows, making it difficult for a novice user to exit the site quickly. In a number of instances, additional software was downloaded and installed on unsuspecting users’ machines. The undetected install reset the user’s homepage to an adult site. Records obtained under subpoena showed that the misspelled domain names were the largest source of the company’s traffic.

While unusual, the case does highlight a need for parents to be cautious when their children use the Web. Here are a few tips to ensure that your child’s first computer experiences will be positive and safe.

Spend time with your children while they explore the Internet.
Let your child know that you care and that you intend to participate. It’s a great way to teach—and to learn.

Become familiar with quality, family-friendly and kid-friendly sites on the Web.
Load your computer with bookmarks to sites such as http://www.nick.com, http://www.enchantedlearning.com, or http://www.pbskids.org. These sites offer great educational and entertaining content, allow children to explore safely and discourage children from wandering off the site.

Inform your kids that personal information should never be given out on the Internet.
This means telephone numbers, address, etc. If a site asks for information, let them know they should always inform you.

Limit kids’ time on the Internet.
Some Internet activities can be addicting, and while they may be educational, they are no substitute for personal interaction.

Talk with your children.
You probably ask your kids what they learned in school every day, so why not ask, “What did you do on the Web today?” Let your child know that you are there to talk anytime, about anything they come across that may cause discomfort. The more you communicate with your children, the more likely they will be to involve you in their activities.

The first basic rule is that kids will be kids: inquisitive, curious, eager to explore—whether it’s the real world or the Internet. The second rule is that you have to be the parent, and treat your child’s Internet experience the same way you would any other interactive activity.

Got a tech issue or question? Need a l33t sp34k translation? Contact Craig at metropolitan_webguy@comcast.net. He'll do his best to help j00.

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