4th Radlett Scout Group

1. Discover the internet together: www.getsafeonline.org contains advice about firewalls, spyware and antivirus protection as well as how to protect your child.

2. Agree a framework for sensible internet use at home: www.childnet-int.org has some good suggestions for this.

3. Discuss disclosing personal information. www.chatdanger.com is a site for teenagers that gives advice on how to stay safe while chatting online.

4. Explore the issues involved in meeting an e-pal face to face. www.thinkuknow.co.uk has advice for children about this.

5. Teach critical questioning skills when looking at websites. www.quick.org.uk has a useful checklist to assess whether a website is likely to be credible. QUICK stands for the Quality Information Checklist.

6. Don't be too critical of your child's exploration. It is natural for children to be curious about off-limits material. If they come across inappropriate material use this as an opening to discuss the content with them, and perhaps make rules for this kind of activity. Encourage your children to use child appropriate search engines, such as www.askkids.com.

7. Report illegal material. www.ceop.gov.uk is the website of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) centre, a police agency tackling child abuse on the internet. It includes a unique facility that enables parents and young people to make reports of actual or attempted abuse on line.

8. Encourage good netiquette. www.transl8it.com is a fun website which translates some of the language used in chatrooms, instant messaging and texting into normal English.

9. Know your child's net use. Let your child show you which websites that they like visiting and what it is that they do there. Try some of the sites yourself to see what they are experiencing. 10. Remember the positives. Embrace the internet, it's a great thing and it's here to stay. To remind yourself of some of the positives watch the Did You Know presentation, available  at http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com/