Remember when kids made friends at their little league game, the mall or at the movies?

Today, kids don’t have to leave their living room to make new friends -- they meet people online. Kids spend up to five hours per week surfing the Internet, chatting via instant messaging, sending e-mail to friends and playing online games.

While the Internet gives kids access to a world of research and information to explore, it also presents a variety of ways for them to come into contact with strangers.

With kids spending an increasing amount of time online, it is important to create safe surfing environments and teach them how to spot potential Internet safety hazards. Kids are very receptive to technology and parents must empower them to make responsible choices.

“The reality is kids are not always safe online--even in their own homes. The most innocent of Internet searches can expose kids to unsuitable material. In the last few years there have been numerous news accounts of kids lured out of their homes by adults posing as kids in chat rooms,” says Darrell Heaps, president of Weave Communications.

“The Internet is no different than the world outside our homes. Parents need to empower their kids in order to keep them safe, by teaching them how to identify potential safety risks on the Net in the exact same way we teach them about the dangers of meeting strangers in public environments,” says Mr. Heaps.

To specifically address these concerns, Weave Communications recently developed northergetaway.com, a kid-friendly online community for kids ages eight to 12-years old for Northern Group Retail Ltd. The new site is built with families in mind. It does not request or require personal information and there are no cookies used to track information about the user.

Mr. Heaps suggests the following ways both kids and parents can be safe while surfing the Net:

Kids should never:
· Share their full name, home address, phone number or e-mail address with strangers
· Post or give their photograph to an online “friend”
· Share the name of their school or the names of any of their sports teams
· Give out their contact information through instant message or chat services
· Post parents’ names, work addresses, phone numbers, email addresses or credit card information
· Meet in person anyone they have met online
· Give personal information – if someone online is being persistent kids should tell them “No” and inform their parents/guardians about the request

Parents:
· Know what your kid is doing online
· Speak to your kids about the Internet and set ground rules
· Look for a privacy policy on all Web sites directed at kids
· Read the privacy policy to learn what personal information is collected and why
· Ask to see the information your kid has submitted

For more information about Internet safety, northerngetaway.com recommends visiting these sites:
· Concerned Children’s Advertisers (www.cca-canada.com)
· Media Awareness Network (www.media-awareness.ca)
· The Canadian Strategy to Promote Safe, Wise and Responsible Internet Use
(http://www.rcmp.ca/html/safe_wise_internet_e.htm)
· Safe Kids (www.safekids.com)

Parents can make surfing the Internet a family activity, giving them the opportunity to spend quality time with their kids while at the same time monitoring online activities. It’s undoubtedly a challenge for parents to keep tabs at all times on what their kids are doing online. But responsible parenting means taking the initiative and learning to talk to kids about the importance of online safety and privacy. Together with their kids, parents should seek out safe sites that have kid-appropriate content and feature fun games, contests and activities.

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