Internet safety securityn privacy Essay

Introduction Microsoft has established partnership with American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in order to ensure online safety of children. This program provides guidelines for family safety and to protect children from developing psychological disturbances on social issues. AAP has a vast number of pediatricians in U. S. and it has second place as largest physician organization in the world which is promoting health and welfare to all children. Microsoft company which is a giant in computer software predicts that future generation of children required to possess extensive knowledge about Internet whereas, it should be lead by limitations of dos and don’ts on Internet browsing, which if not guided results in adverse impact both for parents and children. In this effort, AAP records a total of 96 million of school-age children per year and apart from promoting health care, AAP would also provide Internet safety measures for children. â€Å"We are pleased to see that the AAP and its members are striving to make Internet safety education a part of routine clinical care for children,† (Adrienne Hall, Senior Director of Trustworthy Computing at Microsoft) Microsoft has several guidelines for each age group. Viz. , using family contracts, 10 things to teach kids, computer security tips for students, steps to improve family’web security, minimizing risk from online predators, a bank of tips and tools to help parents and a video to teach kids how to be safe online. In fact there are many points that have to be noticed by children before entering online surfing. First and foremost, parents must be present while children are online and secondly, identify the purpose of surfing such as whether it is for the purpose of education, online games, chatting, shopping or for any other purpose. Thirdly, encourage children to enter through search engines, explaining the importance of finding good sources of information for education purposes, or directly by having an accurate web site address / URL . This enables children to click on a particular link that is required for further information. For instance, children above the age of 6yrs usually are quick to learn about online skills and enjoy playing online games. In such case, parents must take initiative to find a web site which contains free online games which are both educative and entertaining viz. , math games, puzzle games, doll games and many other sport games. Parents must explain that by typing â€Å"online games† in google search engine a plethora of games websites are displayed which are good and entertaining for children. Children are very smart than parents, with the fact that anything explained once is remembered and from the very next minute, children pick up so fast in learning concepts. Therefore, it is the responsibility of parents and teachers to teach online safety measures to children for the health and benefit of children. Step by step guidance is what is required for children instead of blackboard teaching. Teaching through videos, online training are some of the best methods to teach children how important it is to tread safely on Internet. There must be a friendly and warm atmosphere at the time of parents participation with children while teaching internet skills. Many a times, children do not agree or parents disagree with the online surfing. In such instance, rules must be framed as a formal contract that would be signed by both parents and children. In this manner, children would be compelled to listen to what parents teach about online skills. Apart from this open discussion, also brings good results with the fact that, when parents ask questions about Internet surfing, children get encouraged and begin to provide a great amount of information which enables parents to realize whether children are entering any unacceptable web areas or zones. There are quite a danger zones that harm children to the developing personality especially, information on weapons, forbidden web sites for children age and above all harmful images that trigger the emotions of innocent kids. Even chatting rooms have to be checked by parents, with the fact that at times, net friends provide false age and false information whereby children begin to build friendship with the above age group and ultimately fall prey as a victim to the net criminals/hackers. Children are even motivated to disappear from parents and especially in western world, parents suffered a great loss for not being aware of Internet in the primary stage of its launch. With some of these negative effects, Microsoft has even designed a code of conduct that must be signed between parents and children which is reproduced as below: â€Å"Online code-of-Conduct Contract. I will: Talk with my parents to learn the rules for using the Internet, including where I can go, what I can do, when I can go online, and how long I can be online ( ___ minutes or ___ hours). Never give out personal information such as my home address, telephone number, my parents’ work address or telephone number, credit card numbers, or the name and location of my school without my parents’ permission. Always tell my parents immediately if I see or receive anything on the Internet that makes me feel uncomfortable or threatened, including e-mail messages, Web sites, or even anything in the regular mail from Internet friends. Never agree to meet anyone in person that I have met online, without my parent’s permission. Never send pictures of myself or other family members to other people through the Internet or regular mail without first checking with my parents. Never give out my Internet passwords to anyone (even my best friends) other than my parents. Not do anything online that could hurt or anger other people or that is against the law. Never download, install, or copy anything from disks or the Internet without proper permission. Never do anything on the Internet that costs money without first asking permission from my parents. Let my parents know my Internet logon and chat names, listed below: _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ Name (child) _______________________ Date ____________ Parent or guardian _______________________ Date ____________ Several hours of browsing may also be harmful to the sensitive eyes of children which is why there should be a protective screen on computer monitor, otherwise there is every possibility of backache, development of eyesight, and even dark circles around eyes. It is important to take note here that children should be instructed to blink eyes every second and staring at web sites while playing games or visiting web sites without blinking eyes, causes lot of eye sight problems. Conclusion Internet is truly benefiting to children wherein children are educated at a fast pace as never before through blackboard teaching whereas measures of care would yield good results. Reference Protect your family : Beyond the basics, Prevention guidelines Accessed January 28, 2008 http://www. microsoft. com/protect/family/guidelines/default. mspx.