Tag Archives: Internet Safety

Internet Safety New Years Resolutions: 2012. “2012 is going to be a great year!” How many times have we heard that at the start of each year? Many? Well, that may be so, but I believe it will be much better than the previous, and it is important to always look forward. As internet speed becomes faster and access easier, …

Are Primary School Aged Children Missing Out on Internet Safety? Internet safety is often associated with keeping children safe while using the internet. Fantastic. But why is it that many parents have a perception that the focus around internet safety starts when their child turns 11 or 12 years of age?Is there a perception that children under the age of …

Chat Rooms – Why Parents Should Be Concerned. Chat rooms have been around for many years and when it first came on the scene, the technology was the start of online social networking.  Simple to connect to, easy to get involved and with no profile to setup, subscription to join or bulky software to install, chat rooms have proved popular. A …

Private Internet Browsing. Anyone surfing the internet without filtering software and browser search options set to ‘strict’ or ‘moderate’ risk having the results returned that may contain objectionable material. Children often stumble on such material when doing their homework. A minor spelling mistake in the search string or words that may infer another meaning are often linked to pornographic material. …

Internet vs Virus vs Productivity – It All Catches Up Eventually. Ever wondered why a computer gets a virus? Ever thought where the virus comes from? The answer is simple. Computer viruses come from either a portable device plugged into it, or from the internet. Computer viruses come in many forms. Malware that may slow your machine down or interfere …

What Is Digital Citizenship? Nowadays we hear a lot about ‘digital citizenship’.  But WHAT does it refer to?  Digital citizenship is a term used to describe the behaviour skills required for acceptable engagement relating to internet activity. It is taking a holistic approach to everything the internet encompasses, and applying appropriate behaviour to those technologies.  There will always be something new when …

When Should I Install Monitoring Software? Parents are being bombarded with information on this subject. Two weeks ago we heard of a boy in Australia who retaliated after being bullied for many years, and the video was uploaded to YouTube. Last week we saw images of two girls at a North Island school in a vicious fight, including one taking …

Are You Concerned About Formspring dot me? Formspring is a question and answer-based social website, launched in November 2009. The site allows its users to set up a profile page, from which anyone can ask them questions. The questions and their given responses are then published on the user’s profile page. The questions can be asked with a user’s name …

Google Safe Search for Kids. In case you haven’t noticed, search-engine giant Google has made some changes to their interface. How does this relate to Google Safesearch? Well, if you search for anything you’ll notice a drop-down link to the right of the search button. This drop-down link doesn’t appear on the Google homepage, you have to be on the …

Kids and Smartphones. Smart phones for kids are the same phones used by adults. These phones are packed with many features, and any decision to buy one for your child needs careful consideration. A ‘smart phone’ is a new generation of cell phone that works similar to a computer. They have full access to the internet, email, and many applications …