Internet Safety 101

We, at the National Wildlife Federation, want children to get outside into natural spaces more often and play. We call it a daily "green hour" because kids need such outdoor time to keep from becoming disconnected from nature from spending too much time on the internet and watching TV.

In the past few months, the Dateline NBC program has covered a series of disturbing incidents involving adult sexual predators pursuing children. The great irony of this is that most parents have a view that kids are not safe playing outdoors but are totally safe when on the computer. The basic rules for Internet Safety according to Marcy Zitz are:

* Never arrange a meeting with someone you have met online.

* Never give out your full name, address, phone number or other personal information.

* Tell you parents if you come across something that makes you feel uncomfortable.
*Keep the computer in a central location in your home.

*Never give out your passwords to anyone.

Read more from Marcy Zitz's Parenting and Family article on Family Internet.

Photo from NBC news.