Safety Experts Cover Dangers of Spending Time on Internet

By STACI DENNIS

By Staci Dennis

Correspondent

LYNNHAVEN

Kim Rhodes knows the dangers lurking online .

“There’s a lot of great stuff on the Internet,” she said, “but there are a lot of bad things, too. You can never be too prepared.”

Rhodes attended the PTA-sponsored Internet Safety Night recently at Kingston Elementary School. The session covered how to safeguard children from dangers on the I nternet, including sites such as myspace.com, chat rooms and game sites.

Representatives from the Office of the Attorney General, Virginia Beach Police Department and Cox Communications answered questions and provided details on the best ways to safeguard Internet use.

“There are little clues in things like e-mails and blogs that can lead right to your doorstep,” said Lisa Hicks-Thomas , chief of the computer crime unit with the Office of the Attorney General. “Blogs are like journals, only online where everyone can read them and know personal details about your family.”

Among the tips offered to young people during the presentation:

* Never give out name, address, phone number or school name to anyone on line.

* Never send a picture of yourself or any family member.

* Never arrange to meet another computer user or speak to someone on the phone .

* Always tell a trusted adult if you encounter anything on the Internet that’s uncomfortable .

Parents were encouraged to establish a clear set of rules and guidelines for computer use, to make surfing the Net a family activity and to fi nd blocking software that monitors Internet use.

Adults can also empower themselves by learning abbreviations commonly used by young people in e-mails and chat rooms. They include: PAL, or parents are listening; P911, or parents are coming; NP, or nosey parents; F2F, or face to face; TAW, or teachers are watching; and WTGP, or want to go private.

Rhodes said she has safeguards in place to protect her 11-year- old niece, who lives with her. She has the computer in a main area of the house. She limits time on the Web, and she monitors the sites visited.

Rhodes, who is the principal for the S outheastern Cooperative Educational Programs, takes those same precautions with her students.

“There are real things to be concerned about,” said Phil McGuinn , a father of boys ages 5 and 3. “These aren’t things that (only) happen to other people. If you aren’t careful, it could happen to you or me.”

Although McGuinn’s sons aren’t old enough to use the Internet alone, he wanted to be prepared . T he main thing he took away from the discussion is to “stay involved in your kids lives and care about what they are doing.”

Staci Dennis, sdennis@cox.net

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