Online Safety

Now, not everyone you meet online is a potential murderer/stalker/molester. There are people I’ve played card games with online for years. I’ve never met them, but we are friends just the same. I do, however, have a separate email account that has very little personal data in it for playing games.

When my nephew decided he wanted to start using the Internet several years ago, I had to sit down and really think about Internet safety.

I was not willing to take any chances with his safety. So, in order for him to go online, he had to agree to follow my simple rules:

1. Never give anyone your full name. First name only.
2. Never give out the name of the city you live in. You can, however, mention the state.
3. Never give out numbers. No phone numbers, birth date, address, zip code, credit card, social security...
4. If anyone says anything that makes you uncomfortable, block them.

Now he’s older and shares his entire life on MySpace. I like to think, however, that he still remembers to be safe.