Parents urged to keeps kids safe online

Microsoft has urged parents to take steps to ensure that their children remain safe online over the summer school holidays.

The software giant noted that during these holidays children will be spending a much higher proportion of their time surfing the internet and meeting friends in chat rooms and social networking sites.

These activities, the firm warned, can expose kids to inappropriate content or people who might want to take advantage of them.

Kristen Johnsen, senior director for security outreach at Microsoft, said: " Even if parents can't tell a blog from a wiki, new technology safeguards and online resources can help them take more control of their children's internet use and create a safer online experience for the entire family."

Microsoft's online safety tips include:

• Set clear rules for internet usage. Prepare children for the online world just as you would for the real world. Establish guidelines and know who they are communicating with and what they are seeing online.
• Keep personal information private. Don't share personal information about yourself online - such as your name, address, age or gender - with people you don't know in the real world.
• Consider PC proximity. It might make sense to place the family computer in a common room, especially for PCs that don't have family safety software installed. Parents are able to provide supervision and guidelines more easily this way.
• Keep communication open between parents and children. When kids see something on the internet that makes them feel uncomfortable, assure them they can talk to a parent or other trusted adult about it without fear of getting their computer privileges taken away.

The fulll list of Microsoft's guidelines can be found at Microsoft's Security At Home website.

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