Virtual World Safety Tips for Kids & Teens from Connect Safely

Thanks to Anne Collier of Connect Safely  and the NetFamily blog for publishing these excellent Kids' Virtual World Safety Tips  and Virtual World Safety Tips for Parents of Teens on Connect Safely.

Whilst some of the information is obviously repeated between the two sets of advice, I really like the way that she has targetted the two age groupings - for example, emphasising to teens how important it is to maintain a good online reputation:

"They know a comment can come back to haunt them, but research shows they don't always think about how – over time – texts and posts can collectively turn into a reputation that can be hard to turn around. Help your teens keep in mind that, in cyberspace, they have pretty permanent, searchable paper trails that they, other players, and VW companies contribute to, consciously or unconsciously (e.g., companies often keep chat logs to track problem behavior)."

In this way, Anne has been able to tailor her advice to parents/carers more precisely, and gauge the likely reaction from the end audience. For example: for children:

"Passwords need protecting! Start 'em young! Virtual worlds are great places for kids to learn the fundamental rule of password protection. For children as well as adults, a stolen password can turn into anything from embarrassing impersonation and bullying to property theft to identity theft. Children are known to share passwords to gain acceptance or show "true friendship," forgetting that even friends get mad sometimes or move on to be somebody's else's "BFF" ("best friend forever") instead. It's a good idea to sit down with your child periodically to help them change their password to something that's hard for people to guess but easy for both of you to remember."

But for teenagers:

"Passwords are private! Research shows that kids tend to share their passwords with each other, so it's important teens understand how harmful that can be – that friends can sometimes be mean or stop being friends and can use passwords to impersonate and embarrass or hurt them. They may roll their eyeballs, but awareness of potential consequences might help them stop and think."

Both here and in her NetFamily post  on the subject last week, Anne constantly emphasises how important it is to keep the lines of communication open between parents/carers and their charges, and not to be too heavy handed as it can easily backfire:

"If parents are too controlling, kids – who have many workarounds and access points – tend to go "underground" to sites parents may've never heard of, to friends' houses where rules are more lax, to establish alternate "stealth" profiles and accounts parents aren't aware of, etc., etc., all of which spells even less parental input and guidance. Kids are safer when parents, like moderators, find the balance between "over- and under-moderating" and keep the communication lines open."

Anne Collier  is the Editor of NetFamilyNews.Org, and together with SafeKids.com's Larry Magid, she co-directs ConnectSafely.org, a Web-based interactive forum and information site for teens, parents, educators, and everybody interested in the impact of the social Web on youth and vice versa.