Internet safety

Keep the computer in a family area where you can monitor its use. Use parental controls if they are included with your operating system.

To keep your computer safe from nasties such as hackers, viruses and spyware, check out the Free programs section.

 
A parent's guide to internet safety
Recommended reading on how to keep young internet users safe.
www.netalert.gov.au

 
Cyber Rules
"What To Do (And Not To Do) To Be Cybersmart." Presentedly for individual age groups. Worth a read together with parent-child.
www.cybersmartkids.com.au

 

CyberQuoll
Internet Safety Education for Primary Schools. Designed for middle to upper primary.
www.cyberquoll.com.au

 

GOOGLE settings
Not a program, but a browser setting. Set your homepage to www.google.com.au, click on "Preferences", set SafeSearch filtering to "strict" and save. Highly recommended.
www.google.com.au

IE7Pro
Add-on for Internet Explorer to provided extra features. Contains a fantastic AD blocker to remove annoying banners that children might be tempted to click on. Highly recommended, mainly for the AD blocker. 
www.ie7pro.com 

 

iKeepSafe.org
An absolute MUST for parents and teachers to browse around and learn all they can! Highly recommended.

A fantastic video for young children from iKeepSafe is:
"Faux Paw: Techno Cat - Adventures in the Internet" 
www.ikeepsafe.org

 

 
Media Awareness Network: Educational Games
Fantastic age-specific games from a Canadian non-profit organisation. 
Teaches students about marketing, privacy, propaganda, etc. Recommended for media studies.
(A lot of further information is provided for teachers and parents, if you browse the site.)
www.media-awareness.ca

 

NetAlert
Internet content filters provided free from the Australian Government.
www.netalert.gov.au

 

NetSmartz.org
Lot's of information, resources, etc. for educators, parents, teens and kids.
www.netsmartz.org

 

Netty's World Net Adventure
Some interesting animations to watch and discuss with children. Three levels to choose from, depending on your child's age. 
www.nettysworld.com.au

 

Parent Control Bar
Choose Parent-mode or Child-mode when browsing the internet to control what is viewed online. Highly recommended if your operating system doesn't include parental controls. (Not req'd with Vista.)
www.parentcontrolbar.org

 

Wise up to IT
Four young people tell their stories about cyberbullying, online stalking, internet security and online grooming. Their stories explain what happened and how they dealt with the situation.
www.wiseuptoit.com.au