Internet Safe-Smarts for Parents

The following information was obtained from www.safelyeverafter.com. 1. Keep the computer your children use in a central, visible location such as the living room or family room - within your sight, not in the bedroom. 2. Talk frankly with your kids about what is dangerous about the Internet. Explain that they wouldn't engage in conversation with people they don't know in "the real world," and the same rule applies while online. 3. Set limits for how much time children can spend online and limit the websites that they are allowed to access. 4. Use your Internet Service Provider's parent controls and take advantage of the widely accessible content filters, pop-up blockers, and monitoring resources and software available to parents. 5. Spend time with your children online. Get familiar with the sites they visit. 6. Explain to children that people aren't always who they say they are online. Remind them not to believe everything they read. 7. Take a basic Computer/internet course at a local college to understand the technology that your children already know. Select and use only a few appropriate online resources for homework or research projects for kids. (some search engines can turn up provacative or inappropriate sites when you least expect it!) 9. To learn more about internet safety, visit:
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,
www.missingkids.com
www.cybertipline.com
ww.netsmartz.org

Living Way Children's Ministry's Foray into the Blogosphere

Here we go into a brave new world. As the Children's Pastor at Living Way, I am looking at new ways and technologies to continue to address the ever changing world around us. I am going to develop a blog just for Living Way's parents and children. On the site, I will talk about upcoming events. I will compile a list of child safe websites that would be fun for our children to visit. I will make sure we list safety rules for internet use for our children. As well, I will list some good sites for information for our parents. As we continue to update the site, we will add games and surveys to participate in. Let me know what kind of things that you are interested in learning as well as what would be fun additions to the site.