Nancy E. Willard is Director of the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use in Oregon.  Her VERY impressive back ground and work history include lectures and work shops for National School Board Association's all the way to the Internet Safety Group of New Zealand. She has also testified for numerous government and political acts with her advice for safe internet use for children. She has written numerous articles, books, and presentations dedicated to keeping kids safe on the internet. During this one hour, on-line webinar, Nancy gave a presentation she has been building for districts use in teaching parents the safe and responsible way to guide teens Internet use.  This was a detailed and informative presentation, but here are a few highlights.

#1. Active and Positive Parenting.  It is a proven fact that teens whose parents are actively and positively engaged in their online activities engage in less risk taking online behavior.   Parents need to be positive about their child's Internet involvement and teach them by personal example, the right and wrong things to be doing on the Internet.  They must not over react when a child reports something fishy on the Internet.  It is important to empower teens and make them feel they have control, but make sure they are using it responsibly. 

#2. Effective Problem Solving. Help the child understand their actions on cyber space.  Make them think about the ethical decisions they will be making.  Some good questions to have your child ask themselves to determine if something is unethical are... How would I feel if someone did this to me?  What would happen if everybody did this? Would it be ok if I did this in real life?  Is this violating any laws or hurting someone close to me? It is critical to encourage a child to be a responsible leader and a positive decision maker -- in real or cyber space.

#3. Computer Security.Make sure your monitoring, time limiting, and filtering software are up-to-date. 

#4. Know When Something is Wrong. Make sure your monitoring, time limiting, and filtering software are up-to-date.  Some key "red flags" something is wrong are: disturbed relationships, too much time online, excessive secretive behavior, strange packages or calls, and subtle online concern comments. If something is wrong, a parent should know how to respond!  Do not over react, investigate the incidence, carefully talk with the child about it, make appropriate consequences, and seek professional assistance if necessary.

#5. Privacy and Personal Information. Some teens appear to be unaware that postings are public and information posted is available to anyone.  Some information can damage their reputation, put them in danger, or ruin future opportunities.  Teens do not really understand friends, enemies, and strangers can view personal information and use it to hurt them.  There is also the fear of identity theft.  Its important to teach a child what should and shouldn't be shared online.

#6. Don't Take Online Candy. Parents must teach their children there are good and bad people on the Internet. Teach a child how to respond and what to do if they are harassed verbally online or are offered something inappropriate.  There are many sexual predators online and kids are captured by them merely because they are not sure how to respond, or do not want to hurt anyone's feelings. Social Networking is a huge problem.  Teenagers start expanding beyond their usual friends and connect with people who may or may not be telling the truth.  Parents must teach a teen if they ever plan on meeting in person with someone they have met online, they must have a safety plan!

#7. Market Profiling and Advertising. Most kids are unaware by posting their information, they will receive more spam and junk email from marketing groups.   Children must learn how much they should share in a general profile description. Think before you post or use chat rooms!

#8. Social Net Working Sites. Make sure children are using safe networking sites.  Allow teens to have blogs and posts that are controlled and monitored by a parent.  This will give them a feeling of responsibility while being slightly controlled.  Teach a child that many predators will lie about their age and be sneaky, so be careful who they allow to be their friend. Parents should always try to know what networking sites they are a part of.

#9. Cyber Bullying. Teach teens about cyber bullying. How they can avoid it, and the proper ways to deal with it like getting help from authority figures at home and at school. Don't be friends or hook up with "loosers."  This will only bring down the child's self esteem and credibility.

#10. Avoid the Porn. Pornography is a rising problem.  Parents should make sure they have filters and monitoring systems.  Also they need to teach teens about sketchy Internet URLs.  Lots of times, teens become addicted to porn merely because they typed in an incorrect URL which lead them to a pornographic site. Teach children safe surfing strategies, and monitor their Interne searches.

Purchasing the "Parent Format" of this presentation:

By the end of October, Nancy will have a version of this presentation in a format districts can use to teach parents about safe Internet use.  This will be available at an affordable price of $49.  The purchased presentation will be narrated, but will have the option to turn off the narration and be given by an individual.  Please email Nancy at nwillard@csriu.org for more information on purchasing this informational, creative, and useful presentation!

*The hand outs received during this recorded session can be copied and used for your district's purpose.  Please email nwillard@csriu.org if you would like to receive this hand out.

Note: Watch Nancy Willard's entire presentation online!
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