Page 23 - Priorities #14 2000-September

These Dot-Com Destinations
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processor. Allservicesrequireparentalconsentfor members under age 13.
For the adventurous, the Internet offers a universe of interactive worlds in which participants invent their own characters, explore and interact with others. Known by various acronyms, these MUDs, MOOs, and MUSHes are online masquerades-text adventure games you can enter, explore and even help create. Many of these are for older people and require some investigation.
To jump right in as a family, check out Moose Crossing (www.cc.gatech.edu/elc/moose-crossing/), a MUD aimed at the 13-and-under crowd, with a tutorial for beginners and guidelines for parents.
Soexplore,interact,create,publish. Addyour voices to the expanding Internet, or use it as a springboard to a summer project you can do together. And let me know what you, as a family, enjoyed using on the Net - I’m interested!
the end, parents have to make your own judgments. If you don’t know about chat rooms, or the way a web browser works, for example, it’s time to do some research.
There are lots of online resources for parents about children and Internet safety (see suggested sites below). They include password protection for your computer, browsers that block access to objectionable sites, and suggestions for practical and fair ways to monitor family usage (such as keeping the computer in a room everyone uses).
Perhaps most importantly, join your teen online. Ask your teen to show you his or her favorite places online. It’s a great way to spend time together. In this issue, Mitch Neuger suggests some interesting sites that families can check out.
For a sample Family Internet Safety Agreement, go to: http://familyinternet.about.com/parenting/ familyinternet/library/weekly/aa101499.htm
To learn more about Teen Safety on the Internet, go to this excellent site: http://www.missingkids.com/html/ ncmec%5Fdefault%5Fteensafety.html
(This site contains guidelines for teens, and tons of great information for parents, including safety precautions and explanations of the possible risks of different kinds of Internet usage.)
COPPA (The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) was implemented in April, 2000. It applies to sites serving children 13 and under. To learn more about COPPA, go to: http://www.coppa.org/law.htm
The American Library Association site is at: http://www.ala.org/teenhoopla/links.html
Ed.Note: LeeAnneMcDermottisamotherofthree children and a producer at Blackberry Creek, in the Kids Only section of America Online. Her husband, Matt, is pastor of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Palo Alto, CA.
Internet Sites
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than children on the Internet, simply because they’re more sophisticated in their ability to journey far and wide online.
Does this mean you sit there helplessly or ban your children and teens from using the Internet? Absolutely not! The benefits of the Internet far outweigh the risks, as long as parents and their kids put a few precautions in place.
Start by having the entire family sign a Family Internet Safety Agreement. Go over the agreement together before you sign...it’s a great opportunity to share views on the basics of Internet safety.
A good agreement seeks to create open communication between parents and teens about the Internet, so your teen will feel free to come to you with any problem they encounter online. So far, there isn’t a Parents’ Seal of Approval for Internet sites, although organizations such as the American Library Association provide lists of recommended sites. In
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