How To Keep Your Teen Safe from Online Predators

In today's world, parents have a difficult time making sure their teenagers are safe. Not only do parents have to worry about real-life predators; there are also online predators to consider. Today's teen spends a significant amount of time interacting with other people via the Internet. While most of the people the teen comes into contact with are probably safe, there is always the chance that an online predator might target her. Here are a few simple steps about how to keep the teen safe from online predators.

1. First, talk to your teen. Make sure she understands the basic safety steps of online interaction. These include never giving out her last name, never giving her address, never giving out her phone number to someone she doesn't know in real life, and essentially not giving out any personal information that could help a predator identify her.
2. Secondly, pay attention to what your teen is doing on the Internet. If your teen has a Facebook or Myspace account, set one up yourself and have your teen add you as a friend. That way you can discreetly monitor what is going on and be able to spot something that doesn't look quite right before it ends up in a tragedy. If your teen becomes suddenly secretive about what she is doing on the computer, that is a red flag and should be paid attention to.
3. It is also important to talk about online predators in a clear and concise manner to your teen. The idea is not to frighten her, but to empower her with knowledge. Explain that many online predators will pretend to be kids of the teen's own age. They may pretend to be the friend of a friend. They may try to "groom" the teen, befriend her, be a good listener, etc. If the teen is aware to watch out for people that make her feel uncomfortable in any way, she will be able to avoid becoming the victim of an online predator. It may be beneficial to talk to the school about sponsoring a "teen Internet safety" event, so that more teens can receive safety information on avoiding online predators.
4. Finally, the more open communication you have with your teen, the better the chance of you being able to help her avoid online predators. It is critical for the teen to feel like she can talk to the parent about anything. Ask her about the things she does on the Internet and who she interacts with. Stress that your concern is her safety, not controlling her. Online predators are regretfully a fact of life in today's world, but by stressing safety and paying attention to what your teen is doing, your teen can avoid becoming a victim.