With our children having more time on their hands during the summer, they’ll spend more of it on the computer. Who will be following them around the internet? Here are safety tips espeically for Facebook.

by Julie Brown Patton

With social networking sites all predicated on sharing information, how many details divulged are too many in today's risky world? Tweens and teenagers continue to put themselves in danger by inadvertently revealing facts that, on the surface, appear innocent. Little tidbits here and there are just the clues that astute online predators need to piece together intimate stories about unsuspecting youth.

This perennial issue popped to the top of the headlines on May 26, 2010, when the wildly popular social media site Facebook made significant changes that included its privacy and security protocols.

Facebook-specific safety tips

Even before Facebook initiated the controversial changes, Consumer Reports had addressed Facebook isssues with a May 12 post about seven things people immediately should stop doing on Facebook. Things to avoid include using simple passwords (instead, use complex passwords that mix upper- and lower-case letters, numbers and symbols); leaving full birth dates in your profile (this makes you an ideal target for identity thieves); and failing to limit access to private details such as photos, religious views and contact information. (The article currently also be found in the June 2010 issue of Consumer Reports Magazine.)

One overlooked security issue is when someone else includes your child's name in photo tags or captions. This unfortunately occurs even on schools’ or parent-teacher-organizations’ websites. If it happens within Facebook, delete it by clicking on the "remove tag" function. If your child isn't on Facebook, and someone includes his or her name in a caption, ask that person to remove the name.

Another valuable tip for both you and your children is not to mention on your Facebook page that you will be leaving from home for routine activities, such as bike riding, grocery shopping, going to a medical office, sports practice, lessons, vacationing, or visiting neighbors for the afternoon.

To help prevent strangers from accessing your personal page, go to the "search" section of Facebook's privacy controls and select "Only Friends for Facebook" search results; in other words, be sure the box for public search results is not checked.

Adding your own Facebook account to your parenting style is in your best interest, because the best way still to protect children who are using Facebook is to become one of their online friends. By using your e-mail address as the contact for their account, you will receive notifications. And please remind children to not mention they "better sign off so they can do chores before mom or dad get home"—obviously that is a give-away that they may be home alone, and reveals too much about parents' schedules.

General internet safety tips

For the past several years, many law enforcement entities have provided guardians with practical suggestions about how to minimize the chances of online exploiters victimizing children. These are the handful of repeated, general recommendations:

• Talk to your child about sexual victimization and potential online dangers.

• Spend time with children online and have them teach you about their favorite online destinations.

• Keep the computer in a common room in the house, not in a child's bedroom, so the computer screen is visible.

• Use parental controls provided by service providers, but do not rely solely on them.

• Maintain access to children's online accounts, and randomly check their e-mails. Be aware children also could be contacted through the U.S. mail from people they first meet via computers. Be upfront with your child about your access and reasons why.

• Teach children to responsibly use online resources.

A premier online resource for parents regarding answers about cyber safety is NetSmartz411, a service offered by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

One web page provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation offers a scavenger hunt and a quiz as a way for children to learn about Internet safety for themselves.

Jason Pack, FBI supervisory special agent in Washington, D.C., recommends that parents provide the following tips to children:

• Never arrange a face-to-face or phone meeting with someone they met online.

• Never upload pictures of themselves to people they do not personally know.

• Never give out names, home addresses, school names or telephone numbers.

• Never respond to messages or bulletin board postings that are suggestive, obscene, belligerent or harassing.

• Understand that whatever they are told online "may, or may not be true!"

Pack says children could be in online danger if you find pornography on their computer, if they receive phone calls from people you don't know, or if they are making calls to numbers you don't recognize.

"If your child gets mail, gifts or packages from someone you don't know, becomes withdrawn from the family, or turns the computer monitor off, or quickly changes the screen when you come into the room, those are more strong signs," he says.

Pack said guardians should not allow children to post provocative pictures of themselves or to use online accounts that belong to someone else. He also reminds parents that computers are no longer the only entrée children have to strangers, given that many cell phone accounts now include internet access.

As a journalist, parent, and marketing communications professional devoted to lifelong learning, Julie Brown Patton writes about community and cultural developments of interest to busy people who seek to balance daily lives, spirituality and family priorities.