If you are a parent in the internet age, you know how scary it is knowing there are online predators that could potentially harm your child.
Fortunately, there are many things you can do to guard against the unthinkable happening. These tips aren’t the only way to prevent anything bad from happening, but they are definitely a good place to start.
1. Talk to Your Child about the Potential Dangers
This may sound a bit cliché, but you need to have “the technology talk” with your kids. For a lot of them, the only fault they may have is not knowing the severity of what could actually happen to them due to online interaction, an angry text or Facebook message or something similar.
Be sure your child knows what could potentially happen— not to scare them necessarily, but to give them an understanding of your desire to protect them.
2. Be Very Careful of Meeting People in Real Life that you Know from the Internet
This is a very important rule. I’m not trying to say everyone you meet on the internet and then meet in person is a “bad person” you shouldn’t meet. 
However, what is very important to keep in mind is that people may not be who you think they are. This could cause some very serious issues to arise if you or your child does not take the necessary precautions.
3. Be Kind to Other People Online
Everything on the internet was created by somebody, and it should be treated as such. Be sure to advise your child to be nice to people on the online, just as they would in real life. 
Being mean to people on the internet or engaging in “cyberbullying” (if it is prolonged and intentionally directed at a certain person) is currently taken very seriously. Not only does it involve possible legal repercussions, but it can also be deeply damaging to the person being cyberbullied.
4. Encourage your Child to Approach you with Anything They Find to be Suspicious or Wrong
One of the more important rules is that you want your child to feel comfortable letting you know when something is possibly wrong. Whether that is somebody making fun of them on a social networking site or receiving an inappropriate message from somebody on the internet, you will want them to notify you so that you can help to manage the situation and make it go away.
5. Use Parental Controls Wisely
Don’t be overly strict with parental controls, but be sure to set distinct limits on what can be seen and also explain to your child why the controls are in place. It’s better to explain the rules than just say “because I said so.”
6. Befriend Your Child on Facebook
This may seem strange, but there’s a very good reason behind it. If you are your child’s friend on Facebook, they will know everything they post (or anything their friends post on their wall) can be seen by you.
Your kids will check their behavior and will advise their friends to do so as well. This will contribute to their safety on the Net.
7. Don’t let your Kids Sleep with their Computer or Phone in the Room
This is more applicable for younger kids. It’s important nonetheless. At a young age, kids don’t necessarily know the severity of the repercussions they could face for hurtful text messages or an angry outburst at someone. Especially in today’s day and age, it is important to remember to calm down and think about what you are going to do. Not having a means of saying what you want whenever you want (at least at nighttime) can help to make sure regrettable things don’t happen.
This post was contributed by John Monts, creative writer for Rue & Ziffra, PA. John is currently a student at the University of California at Davis studying Political Science and Economics.
