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Safety Online This page is dedicated to assist you and your family in enjoy your online experience in safely. While there are dangers associated with going online, the dangers are far less than any other things you or your children will be faced with as they grow up. Let's start by defining the problem areas and showing the probable cause. Mail You Would Rather Not Get. UCE or SPAM Unsolicited Commercial E-mail is often called SPAM. Whatever you call it, it's mail that you probably would rather not get. Most of this mail is designed to try to get you to buy something or to get you to visit a web site which, often, is a site that contains sexually explicit material. "Email boxes are filling up with more offers for business opportunities than any other kind of unsolicited commercial email. That's a problem, according to the Federal Trade Commission, because many of these offers are scams."1     Even if there is a "click here to remove" it is best not to respond to UCE or spam. Responding only confirms that your e-mail address is a good one, thereby inviting even more junk. Exposure to Inappropriate Material One risk is the inappropriate material which suggests or promotes sexual, hateful, violence activities or material which encourages activities that are dangerous or illegal. These may be from people trying to sell or scam or from those who are fanatic believers in their special causes. One might encounter chatroom conversation, E-mail or bulletin board messages that are harassing, demeaning, or belligerent. Improper Encounters Children and teenagers who use the computer unsupervised are likely to participate in online discussions regarding companionship, relationships, or sexual activity. While online they might provide information or arrange an encounter that could risk his or her safety or the safety of other family members. In a few cases, pedophiles have used online services and bulletin boards to gain a child's confidence and then arrange a face-to-face meeting. Virus and Trojan Horses "Viruses" are self-replicating program which attaches copies of itself to other files, thus spreading as quickly as possible. A "Trojan Horse", on the other hand, does not reproduce. A Trojan Horse is a file which claims to do something legitimate and useful, and generally do, while at the same time does something malicious and/or destructive. Most troublesome are the password steeling Trojans and those who record all keystrokes, then send then to a different machine. Protecting you and yours: E-mail Safety tells of AOL's steps to assist you combating the problem of junk mail. Mail Controls allow you to all e-mail, all e-mail from entire domains and specific e-mail addresses, or to permit mail from only trusted names. The Parental Control Slideshow shows how to designate different levels of access for each child. Since there are programs which capture Screen Names from Chatrooms and Newsgroups, I suggest that you reserve one of your five screen names for this use. Then block all mail for that screen name. Aol's Child Safety Online recommends that you Store the password for your child's screen name, and don't tell them what it is. Then they are less likely to use other machines to access AOL or the Internet. Parental Controls are a great way to tailor your children's online experience to what's right for them, but there's no better safeguard than good old-fashioned parental supervision. AOL's Kids Only account cannot send or receive Instant Message™ notes (private real-time communications), cannot enter member-created chat rooms, cannot use premium services, and can only send and receive text-only electronic mail. AOL's Young Teens (ages 13-15) account may visit some chat rooms, but not member-created rooms or private rooms. They are also blocked from Internet newsgroups that allow file attachments and they cannot use premium services. AOL's Mature Teens (16-17) provide more freedom, while still preventing access to certain features. Finally, the 18+ designation provides unrestricted access to all features on AOL and the Internet. To control who can and cannot send e-mail to your children, click on Fine-tune with Custom Controls. There you fine specific controls for Chat, Instant Messages, Downloading, Web, Mail and Newsgroups. Remember that you must be signed on with the Master Account Name in order to change these controls. Safe Web Searching AOL NetFind Kids Only is a search engine that links only to sites that are safe for kids. Ask Jeeves for Kids! is THE search site for my granddaughters (7 - 11 years old). A safe search sight which uses plain text as input (offers to spell check for you). First a search of their knowledgebase returns any related questions. Your child then selects the question that best matches her inquiry. The question will lead to a Web page that has been carefully reviewed by a Jeeves' Content Editor. Jeeves next retrieves matches from major search engines. These have been filtered using SurfWatch . Rules for Online Safety should be taught to children who will be online. A story for your child to learn by: -Thanks to Butchy1043 This Could Happen to Your Child!! Shannon could hear the footsteps behind her as she walked toward home. The thought of being followed made her heart beat faster. "You're being silly," she told herself, "no one is following you." To be safe she began to walk faster, but the footsteps kept up with her pace. She was afraid to look back and she was glad she was almost home. Shannon said a quick prayer, "God please get me home safe." She saw the porch light burning and ran the rest of the way to her house. Once inside she leaned against the door for a moment, relieved to be in the safety of her home. She glanced out the window to see if anyone was there. The sidewalk was empty. After tossing her books on the sofa she decided to grab a snack and get on line. There she could talk to strangers without being afraid. After all, no one knew who she really was and couldn't hurt her. She logged on under her screen name ByAngel213. Checking her Buddy List she saw GoTo123 was on. She sent him an instant message: ByAngel213: Hi I'm glad you are on! I thought someone was following me home today. It was really weird! GoTo123: LOL You watch too much TV. Why would someone be following you? Don't you live in a safe neighborhood? ByAngel213: Of course I do_ LOL_ I guess it was my imagination_ cause I didn't see anybody when I looked out. GoTo123: Unless you gave your name out on line_ You haven't done that have you? ByAngel213: Of course not. I'm not stupid you know. GoTo123: Did you have a softball game after school today? ByAngel213: Yes and we won!! GoTo123: That's great! Who did you play? ByAngel213: We played the Hornets_ LOL..their uniforms are so gross! They look like bees_ LOL GoTo123: What is your team called? ByAngel213: We are the Canton Cats. We have tiger paws on our uniforms. They are really kewl. GoTo123: Do you pitch or what? ByAngel213: No_ I play second base. I got to go.. My homework has to be done before my parents get home. I don't want them mad at me_Bye GoTo123: Catch you later.. Bye GoTo123 decided it was time to teach Angel a lesson. One she would never forget. He went to the member menu and began to search for her profile. When it came up he highlighted it and printed it out. He took out a pen and began to write down what he knew about Angel so far. Her name: Shannon Birthday: Jan.3, 1985 age:13 State where she lived: North Carolina Hobbies: softball, chorus, skating and going to the mall. Besides this information, he knew she lived in Canton. She had just told him. He knew she stayed by herself until 6:30 every afternoon until her parents came home from work. He knew she played softball on Thursday afternoons on the school team and the team was named the Canton Cats. Her favorite number 7 was printed on her jersey. He knew she was in the seventh grade at the Canton Junior High School. She had told him all this in the conversations they had on line. He had enough information to find her now. "She'll be so surprised," he thought, "she doesn't even know what she has done." Shannon didn't tell her parents about the incident on the way home from the ball park that day. She didn't want them to make a scene and stop her from walking home from the softball games. Parents were always overreacting and hers were the worst. It made her wish she was not an only child. Maybe if she had brothers and sisters her parents wouldn't be so overprotective. By Thursday Shannon had forgotten about the footsteps following her. Her game was in full swing when suddenly she felt someone staring at her. It was then that the memory came back. She glanced up from her second base position to see a man watching her closely. He was leaning against the fence behind first base and he smiled when she looked at him. He didn't look scary and she quickly dismissed the fear she had felt. After the game he sat on a bleacher while she talked to the coach. She noticed his smile once again as she walked past him. He nodded and she smiled back. He noticed her name on back of the shirt. He knew he had found her. Quietly he walked a safe distance behind her. He didn't want to frighten her and have to explain what he was doing to anyone. It was only a few blocks to Shannon's home and once he saw where he lived he quickly returned to the park to get his car. Now he had to wait. He decided to get a bite to eat until the time came to go to Shannon's house. He drove to a fast food restaurant and sat there until time to make his move. Shannon was in her room later that evening when she heard voices in the living room. "Shannon, come here," her father called. He sounded upset and she couldn't imagine why. She went into the room to see the man from the ballpark sitting on the sofa. "Sit down," her father began, "this man is a policeman and he has just told us a most interesting story about you." Shannon moved cautiously to a chair across from the man. How could he tell her parents anything? She had never seen him before today! "Do you know who I am Shannon?" The man asked "No_" Shannon answered. "I am your on line friend, GoTo123." Shannon was stunned. "That's impossible! GoTo is a kid my age! He's 14 and he lives in Michigan!" The man smiled. "I know I told you all that_ but it wasn't true. You see Shannon there are people on line who pretend to be kids; I was one of them. But while others do it to find kids and hurt them, I belong to a group of parents who do it to protect kids from predators. I came here to find you to teach you how dangerous it is to give out too much information to people online. You told me enough about yourself to make it easy for me to find you. Your name, the school you went to, the name of your ball team and the position you played. The number and name on your jersey just made finding you a breeze." Shannon was stunned. "You mean you don't live in Michigan?" He laughed. "No, I live in Raleigh. It made you feel safe to think I was so far away, didn't it?" She nodded. "I had a friend whose daughter was like you. Only she wasn't as lucky. The guy found her and murdered her while she was home alone. Kids are taught not to tell anyone when they are alone, yet they do it all the time on line. The wrong people trick you into giving out information a little here and there online. Before you know it, you have told them enough for them to find you without even realizing you have done it. I hope you've learned a lesson from this and won't do it again." "I won't," Shannon promised solemnly. "Will you tell others about this so they will be safe too?" "It's a promise!" That night Shannon and her dad and Mom all knelt down together and prayed. They thanked God for protecting Shannon from what could have been a tragic situation. So, how much are you telling your online friends? Could someone find you if they wanted to? How much do you really know about them? HOW NOT TO HAVE THIS HAPPEN TO YOU The story you just read was not true. Yet lt could have happened; it was based on true information given out to me by kids on line. It could easily happen to the teens that chat so freely with strangers. This message is for boys as well as girls. They have been victims of predators online too. The following are ways to protect yourself : Never tell anyone your full name, address, phone number, city or any other personal information about yourself or your family. Watch what you put on your profile. Don't put your date of birth, especially the year. Remember you are not required to put any information on the profile you don't want to. If anyone IM's you or e-mails you and asks where you go to school, where you live or any other personal questions you don't feel comfortable with, do not hesitate to say, " I'm sorry, I don't give out personal information" or "My parents have asked me not to tell that." If someone sends you an e-mail form with personal information about themselves on it and suggests you fill one out just like it, be alerted and don't do it. Who knows to where and to whom it will be forwarded! If you go into chat rooms, get offline immediately if anyone pressures you to talk to them, won't leave you alone or asks for personal information. If you ever get suggestive, angry or abusive messages, tell your parents at once and contact AOL or whatever Internet provider you use and seek assistance. Don't respond to e-mail from people you don't know. If you believe you've received something strange, tell your parents. http://members.aol.com/EKlusmann/AOL/AOL-Safe.htm                 File: C:/15-min/Aol/AOL-Safe.htm Last Modified: Oct. 05, 1998 by Fred Klusmann