Why protection of children on the internet is so important.

Children surf for many different reasons. This can depend for example on their age; we can divide children into four different categories:
1. Children aged between two and three are already introduced to the computer.
2. When they reach the age of seven, they begin to enjoy the use of internet. By that age, they begin to use online encyclopedias; they download pictures or write to pen pals.
3. Than we have the young adolescents. They use the internet in a more sophisticated way, like reading journals online and consulting archives and libraries.
4. The older adolescents, use the internet in an even more practical manner, they search information about internships, job opportunities, learning different languages and so forth.
However, parents must be aware of the fact that children put information online that can harm them. They can put their identity online, for other people – sometimes with bad intentions – to see. This makes the internet a very unsafe place for children. So beware!

It can also be interesting to know where children surf.
Mostly they surf at home, in school or in public libraries. But it can also be interesting to take into account that they can surf at a friend’s house, in internet cafés, at museums, in after – school programs, in stores where there is a wifi connection or in public areas like train stations. So we can conclude that the protection of children is not always in the hands of the parents. This is why the sites themselves must be well protected.

Bregt Timmerman

Source: http://www.nap.edu/netsafekids/inter_kids.html#whykidssurf