NSTeens: Helping teens make safer online choices

I like to consider myself a full citizen of the online generation. There’s little doubt that the Internet plays a huge role – a huge and beneficial role – in my life. But many’s the time when I’ve thanked my lucky stars that the Web didn’t exist when I was a teenager. Aside from being a minefield of potential social faux-pas (like, say, spamming all your contacts to grub for votes!), today’s online teens face issues like cyberbullying and identity theft.

I don’t have teenagers online yet, but I do have a couple of schoolage boys, and no doubt in a couple of years they’ll be far more capable online than their doddering parents. The trouble is, they’ll still be kids. That’s why I wanted to be a part of the Mom Central blog tour to promote NSTeens, a new Web site aimed at educating teens of the potential risks and dangers that exist online and how to deal with them. (Disclosure: I will receive a $20 amazon gift card for participating in this blog tour.)

According to their website, “NetSmartz, a leading online resource of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, used their expertise to develop NSTeens to educate, engage, and empower kids as Internet users.” It’s full of videos and comics that are, of course, aimed at teens. (And left me feeling very, very old and very, very out of touch, being only 25 or so years too old for their target demographic!) Their comic ‘How Much Is Too Much’ illustrates the consequences of improper Internet use and shows the teens that they can use their networks to empower people. Videos cover topics including social networking, cyberbullying, and offline consequences.

I found the NetSmartz site had all sorts of great resources for parents, including these safety tips, and thought I would share some of them here, too.

• web sites for children are not permitted to request personal information without a parent’s permission. Talk to children about what personal information is and why you should never give it to people online.
• let children show you what they can do online, and visit their favorite sites.
• Internet accounts should be in the parent’s name with parents having the primary screenname, controlling passwords, and using blocking and/or filtering devices.
• children should not complete a profile for a service provider and children’s screennames should be nondescript so as not to identify that the user is a child.
• talk to children about what to do if they see something that makes them feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused. Show them how to turn off the monitor and emphasize that it’s not their fault if they see something upsetting. Remind children to tell a trusted adult if they see something that bothers them online.

Even as a fairly savvy and sophisticated Internet user, I found some great information on these sites. Definitely worth a few clicks!

(This post also appears as my weekly column on the TechLifePost.)

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Author: DaniGirl

Canadian. storyteller, photographer, mom to 3. Professional dilettante. View all posts by DaniGirl