The Internet has become as important to teenage communications as the telephone once was for earlier generations. According to the U.S. Department of Education, by the time children reach high school, 80 percent of them are using the Internet. Allowing kids to go online without supervision or ground rules is not unlike allowing them to explore a major metropolitan area by themselves. The Internet, like a city, offers an enormous array of entertainment and educational resources but also presents some risks. Kids need help navigating this world.

You can't watch your kids every minute, but you do need to use strategies to help them benefit from the Internet and avoid its risks. By exploring the Internet with your kids, you greatly expand its capacity as an educational tool. By providing guidance and discussion along the way, you increase kids' online skills and confidence along with their ability to avoid risks. (Plus, you might be surprised by what your kids can teach you!)

When your child browses the Internet they can read stories, tour museums, visit other countries, play games, look at pictures, shop, and do research to help with their homework. However there is always the chance they could encounter sites containing adult images or demeaning, racist, sexist, violent, or false information. Because it is difficult for kids to distinguish reliable sources of information from less reliable ones, it is important for you to stress to them that just because it is posted, does not mean it is necessarily true.

Keeping an open line of communication is crucial to keeping your kids safe online. Just as you might remind them to do their homework or clean their room, remind them frequently to let you know if they come across anything that makes them feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused.

The most frightening difference between the real world and the Internet is the ability for people to be anonymous and virtually untraceable online. Children should avoid posting personal information and pictures themselves. Encourage your child to choose only gender neutral screen names and to only chat with people they know in person. Should your child receive an Instant Message (IM) from someone they don't know, tell them to block that sender immediately. A stranger online, is a stranger forever. Personal meetings should always be discouraged.

Parents are encouraged to monitor chat session conversations and should familiarize themselves with chat lingo. Monitoring only works if you can understand what is being said. Imagine trying to decode a conversation between two people from another country; unless you know the language, it would be nearly impossible to understand. Websites such as http://www.web-friend.com/help/lingo/chatslang.html provide parents and guardians with definitions for the most frequently used lingo.

Because everyone uses the Internet for many different reasons, kids and adults can learn from one another. Talk about the Internet frequently with your kids. When you do, you encourage them to take an interest in personal safety and responsible behavior. Keep in mind, if you don't talk to your kids about staying safe, someone online might.