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Ages
13 to 17: Technically Sophisticated
It's common for younger teens to experience periods
of low self esteem, seek the approval of their
friends, and be less willing to accommodate their
parents' expectations. Older teenagers need both
group identity and independence, and tend to
reconcile their family and peer values. In late
adolescence, kids also mature and are ready to
interact with the world on an intellectual level.
Generally, teens are open to new ideas but lack the
life experience to judge their validity. It is
important for parents to continue to play an active
role in guiding their older children's use of the
Internet.
What 13-17 year olds can do online
Teens download music, use
instant messaging (IM), e-mail, and play
online games. They also actively use search
engines to find information on the Internet. Most
teens have visited
chat rooms, and many have participated in adult
or private chats. Boys in this age group are more
likely to push the boundaries by looking for gross
humor, gore, gambling, or explicit adult sites.
Girls may be more likely to chat online and
therefore may be more susceptible to being sexually
solicited online.
Safety tips
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Create a list of Internet house rules with your teens. You
should include the kinds of sites that are off
limits, Internet hours, and guidelines for
communicating with others online, including in
chat rooms. |
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Keep
Internet-connected computers in an open area and
out of your teens' bedrooms. |
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Talk to your kids
about their online friends and activities just
as you would about their other friends and
activities. This includes talking to your teens
about their instant messaging list, and making
sure they're not talking to strangers. |
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Investigate
Internet-filtering
tools as a complement—not a replacement—for
parental supervision. |
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Help protect your
children from offensive pop-up windows by using
pop-up blocking
software. |
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Know which chat
rooms or message boards your teens visit, and
whom they talk to. Encourage them to use
monitored chat rooms, and insist they stay in
public chat room areas (monitoring
software). |
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Insist that they never agree to meet an online
friend. |
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Teach
your teens never to give out personal
information without your permission when using
e-mail, chat rooms, or instant messaging,
filling out registration forms and personal
profiles, and entering online contests. |
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Teach
your kids not to download programs without your
permission—they might unknowingly download
spyware
or a
computer virus. Also teach your kids that
file-sharing and taking text, images, or artwork
from the Web may infringe on copyright laws. File-sharing and
taking text, images, or artwork from the Web may
infringe on copyright laws and can be illegal. |
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Encourage your teens to tell you if something or
someone online makes them feel uncomfortable or
threatened. Stay calm and remind your kids they
are not in trouble for bringing something to
your attention. (It is important that your teen
does not think that their computer privileges
could be taken away.) |
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Talk to your
teenagers about online adult content and
pornography, and direct them to positive sites
about health and sexuality (Internet-filtering). |
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Help
protect them from spam. Tell your teens not to give out their
e-mail address online, not to respond to junk
mail, and to use
e-mail filters. |
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Be
aware of the Web sites that your teens frequent.
Make sure your kids are not visiting sites with
offensive content,
or posting personal information or photos of
themselves
(monitoring
software). |
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Teach
your kids responsible, ethical, online behavior.
They should not be using the Internet to spread
gossip, bully, or threaten others. |
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Make sure your teens check with you before
making financial transactions online, including
ordering, buying, or selling items. |
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