Internet safety tips for teens

Teens these days know much more about computers than most adults, so sometimes its hard to keep up with all the changes, especially if you are trying to keep up with the changes of yesteryear. The Internet is seemingly boundless, as people are finding more and more things to do with it. But a constant problem is Internet safety. When talked about, two things come to mind, hackers, and Internet predators. But there are ways to deter these malicious cyber enemies.

Hacking is done for many reasons, but there are two that stand above the rest. Some do it because there can be profit made. Example: A hacker gains access to your e-mail account, and steals passwords. One of those passwords happens to grant access to your bank account via Internet, and the hacker proceeds to steal the money. The other reasons hackers do what they do, is simply for sport. Example: A hacker gets into your e-mail account,

and finds out your IP address. He would simply have to link his computer to yours, and drop a devistating virus right into your computer. Now, that is bad, anyone would agree. But there are ways to prevent this, or countless other misfortunes from happening to you.

One obvious way is to NEVER give your password away to anyone, unless it is family or someone else that you trust. Also, never send e-mails that contain passwords, and in any e-mail provider that provides storage space (such as G-Mail) do not store your passwords there. Another easy way to do prevent this is getting (and constantly maintaining) some sort of computer security system (Norton, McAfee, etc.). Not only do these tools block viruses and spy ware directly assaulting your computer, they also regulate your e-mails, filtering out e-mails that may have viruses attached. And one final way to prevent hacking is do not visit any shady sites, and DEFINITELY do not download anything from them.

Now, to the terrible topic of Internet predators. There is no hiding it, Internet predators are out there looking for children and teenagers. You may have heard of a couple cases that have had less than happy endings. And because of that, parents tend to get paranoid, becoming an Internet dictator. This is completely unnecessary. Now, don't get me wrong, monitoring your teens activities is a good thing, but in moderation. What I am saying is, its totally fine to let you child have a MySpace, or Facebook, or Twitter. But there are some guidelines that should be followed when doing this.

Obvious things to do would be to never accept friend requests or talk to anyone you don't know, even if they say they know you or if they say that they are friends with one of your friends. This is a common ploy by Internet predators. Also, on Social Networking sites (MySpace, Facebook, Twitter etc.) in the "About Me" Section, it is totally fine to post things about you such as hobbys, lifestyle, and so on, but the "no no's" are posting things like Address, Phone Numbers, even the town that you live in. In reality, if you are there for friends, they most likely already know these things about you. This goes for Forums, Chatrooms, Online Games and so on. Basically anything that has you interact with others over the Internet.

So, realistically, the internet is nothing to be afraid of. In fact, it is possibly the most valuable tool on the planet, considering it has practically every bit of knowledge out there, at a keystroke away. All you have to do to be safe, is have common sense, and situational awareness. These are key. Couple those with the tips I have given and you should be totally safe over the internet. And if you are ever unsure, ask yourself, "what would happen if I did do this?", and if anything bad comes to mind, its most likely not a good idea. In conclusion, have fun, but be safe!