Teen Safety on the Internet

By Katie and Julia Ransohoff, high school student writers

More and more teenagers are logging on to the Internet every day. Although the Internet is a great source for research projects and networking, there are also dangers involved with surfing the Web. Enjoy the Internet, but take precautions to keep yourself safe.

How to Stay Safe on the Internet

Remember that the Web allows you to be completely anonymous. Someone who says that he is a 15-year-old boy may actually be a 50-year-old man pretending to be a teen for inappropriate reasons. A business Web site that looks legitimate might be part of a scheme to steal your money or identity. To be cautious, follow these guidelines:

• Never give out personal information, such as your name, home address or phone number, the name of your school, pictures, credit card numbers or the names of your parents without permission from your parents.
• Do not meet someone you met online in person.
• Do not give out your password to anyone.
• In chat rooms, use a name that is not gender-specific, so you are less likely to receive pornographic material or other forms of harassment.
• If you do receive pornographic material, report it to your local police department.

E-mail Safety

Most of us get volumes of unsolicited email everyday. Take these precautions to keep your spam to a minimum:

• Do not open links or files from people you do not know.
• Never respond to e-mails with pornographic or other inappropriate material.
• Do not respond to advertisements -- this confirms that you have a working e-mail account, and you will only receive more junk e-mail.

Chat Rooms

Chat rooms can be particularly dangerous. Even when chat rooms are specifically for teens, participants are not necessarily all teens. Someone you meet in the chat room may actually be an adult predator who has made up an identity to hide his or her age.

Blogging

Blog is short for Web log. Blogs allow people to write on many topics in somewhat of an online diary. However, blogs are not private like diaries. People of all ages all over the world can read your blog, even people who know you only through your writing. Blogging can be a fun way to meet people with similar interests, connect with friends who live far away and develop your writing. Blogging can help teens communicate and develop their interests, but there are also dangers to blogging.The internet is anonymous. Also, remember that the Internet is public domain that anyone can access, so it is important to be take precautions when you blog.

PAMF's We're Talking Teen Health and We're Talking Too Preteen Health are great sources for internet safety, making smart online choices, and an Online Safety Pledge.