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Big or small, you need to stay safe on the internet

annekePosted for Everyone to comment on, 5 years ago4 min read


Your teacher gives you assignments where you have to do research, you visit different sites and play games.  You watch 'youtube' and you email your friend.  You use social media like 'facebook' and you read interesting facts and look at all the beautiful pictures.

O what a wonderful time we live in to 'have the world at our fingertips', right there in front of you on your computer, but the question is are you being safe while doing all this 'surfing'?

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Nobody wants to put themselves in danger, but it is very easy to do without you even knowing it, while you are on the internet.

Unfortunately there are very sick people out there that is not only trying to steal personal information from you, or infect your computer with a virus, but also people that are out to hurt children, so even if you are sick of the speech from your parents, YOU NEED TO BE CAREFUL.

You will sit there and read this and think, It will never happen to me, but the truth is it can happen to anybody, so be alert and follow a few simple rules.

  1. Do not speak to people online you do not know. If you want to make friends, do it with the kids around you. The ones you can see, not the ones that you believe if they tell you they are your age.
  2. Never ever agree to meet someone you do not know in person, especially not alone.
  3. If a stranger invites you on your phone or computer to chat to them, tell your parents. We all know we do not want our parents to know everything we do, but sometimes we need to tell them things to stay safe.
  4. Do not just share your 'personal information' with anybody - those are things like your name, address, the name of your school, how old you are etc.

It sounds silly to say that you must not speak to strangers, because you will think But I do not meet them or they do not see me, but the problem is they can pretend to be your age, have the same interests as you and in time you will feel comfortable because they sound so nice, and before you know it you agree to meet them or give them information about yourself and they can figure out where to find you.

Unfortunately, kids have been tricked online by people who pretend to be something that they're not. Someone might lie and say they're in sixth grade, too, when they're really all grown up and they don't even know how to skateboard. Some kids have found themselves in a dangerous situation when they agreed to meet the mysterious online "friend" in person.

Just have a look at the video to show you how easy this can happen to ANYBODY

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We all want friends or meet up with new people, but doing it on the internet is not the way to go for children. Be 'old school' and talk to people in person.

Get more information on how to be safe on the internet here and you can also have a look at this site with some links on how to stay safe on the internet.

You are growing up and you want to do a few things by yourself without always feeling like a baby and running to your parents, but you need to make responsible decisions and if you share things with your parents that bothers you or makes you feel unsafe, you are not a baby, you are a responsible child that looks out for their own safety. VERY CLEVER.

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