5 ways you can help your child protect themselves on Social Websites

MySpace, Twitter, facebook and You Tube are just some of the names given to Social Sites. If you haven't heard of these your children will almost certainly have and they may already have created their own page on one of these sites.

They can post information and pictures of themselves and then they invite all their friends to look at their page. Take a look at some of these sites yourselves to see what information people provide on their own web page. Then sit down with your children and warn them about some of the precautions they can take to protect themselves from online predators on these sites.

Being young is a time of excitement and learning. You are not robbing your children of their happiness by warning them of dangers that face them every day. It's a way of showing you love them and they need to know that dangers exist on the internet as well as on the streets. Child predators are clever people and, if you don't warn your children about them, without frightening them, your children may lose their innocence very quickly.

1. The giving of personal information on the internet is strictly a no-no. Of course it's exciting to meet new people on the internet but how will your child know if their new 'friend' is not a sexual predator? The online predator only needs a little information in order to find a child. Just the name of a school,which they will gently coax out of your child, may be enough.

2. Tell your children not to agree to meet with any online friends without parents present. Online predators who use social sites to meet and talk children into leaving their homes are tempting them away from their families. If a child one day walks out to meet a new 'friend' without telling you, it's much harder for anyone to catch them if the 'friend' is actually a predator. Make sure that you go along with your child if they meeting an internet 'friend' in real life.

3. Ignore and avoid sexual conversations. A sexual predator will not always talk about sex straight away. They will try to build up some trust with your child. Warn your child to end the conversation as soon as sex is mentioned..

4. Always tell the truth. Teach your children not to,pretend they are older than they are. If they call someone bad names this could come back on them later. they should always be honest and truthful..

5. Never reveal passwords. A friend could use your password and log in pretending to be you in a chat room. It might seem like a harmless prank but could lead to major problems for your child. Someone who is mad at your child could use their profile and say or do bad things.

You don't want your child to become a victim so teach them to be safe on the Social Sites.

And, finally, you will want to know all the answers to the questions you're likely to be asked by your child so get a free copy of Online Predators FAQ from http://stoppingonlinepredators.info