New technologies mean that your family can be in contact with their friends anytime anywhere. But because the Internet connects them to millions of people worldwide, it also means you there can be dangers - such as paedophiles - lurking online. As a general rule, your children and teenagers must never give out sensitive personal information online. This includes:
Find out more about how to keep your family safe when chatting online.
Email should be a safe and effective way for your children and teenagers to communicate with others.
However, it's important that your child's email address comes from a trusted provider, who will not sell or pass it to marketers or other companies. This can help ensure your child does not receive spam or junk mail that contains adult material. Make sure your child only shares their email address with trusted friends.
If anyone in your family receives spam, follow the advice in the Spam section of the Safe Surfing website.
Instant messaging programmes, such as Yahoo! Messenger and MSN Messenger, allow children and teenagers to send instant messages to each other. They can hold 'conferences' which allow several friends to hold a simultaneous conversation. This method of contact allows children and teenagers to collaborate on homework projects or just stay in touch.
Children usually have a list of contacts or buddies that they can contact. It's important that you know the identity of these contacts, and can ensure that they are not strangers who can threaten your child's safety.
Message Boards and Discussion Groups allow children and teenagers to post and reply to messages from other members of a group, and to share photos or other files.
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