How Can I Teach My Teen Online Safety?

Michelle K: My daughter is 13 years old. Despite all of my efforts to keep her from setting up pages on websites with pictures and details about herself, she continues to find more sites that I am unaware of to set up pages on. I have talked myself blue in the face, made her watch several of your programs on predators and others. Still, for some reason, she will not listen to me. How do I get her to see how serious this all is?
JW: Believe me, Michelle, many parents are fighting this battle with their teenagers. Fortunately, you have a very powerful ally. You can’t keep your kids off of the Internet, but The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) offers some great online resources with information that’s not only helpful for parents, but produced with graphics and language that will appeal to kids, too. You can access these resources at NetSmartz.org, NetSmartTeenz.org and 4NetSafety.com. The websites use videos and interactive games that help open the lines of communication, and help kids understand how dangerous the Internet can be if they’re not careful.






