Reply #31: My dad always made sure that... [View All]

[Kathleen04]

I knew the possible consequences of giving out too much information on the internet. He told me the stories of what has happened to girls that have been stalked on the internet or tried to meet with someone on the internet. Make sure your teen knows about these cases and learns from the mistakes that were made.

And make sure they know that not everyone on the internet is who they say they are.

IMO, it's not so much WHO they're talking to but what they're talking ABOUT. Make sure they know what information is inappropriate to give out--full name, address, phone number, school they go to, etc.

With a teenage daughter, probably the main point you'll want to emphasize is all that above.

And make sure you know your kids well enough to be sure that they're not going to get into online relationships or try to meet someone to fill some void.

With a son, you'll probably have to pay closer attention to what sites they're going to..set ground rules for what's inappropriate and what's not. Don't assume that parental controls (those that are on AOL and other browsers) will keep them out of certain sites because in most cases they DON'T actually work...the browser only knows the sites it recognizes (which usually ends up being the harmless ones and not the random porn site).

So there's my 2 cents worth. :)