By: Claudia Maroney, Frontier Communications General Manager

The Internet is a useful educational tool for your children and an effective resource to use while working on school projects. With the summer months around the corner, children will use the Internet less for school projects and more for social networking. The Internet can be just as dangerous as it is helpful, meaning it is vital to keep your kids safe while they are online. Over the next two weeks I will share simple steps you can take to protect your children from harmful people and content online.

Establish an open dialogue with your children: It’s important to speak with your children before installing parental control software on your computer. They should understand that the intent of the software is to ensure their safety. With an open dialogue, they will be more likely to come to you if they are experiencing a problem online. Talk with your children about what sites they like to visit, who they like to talk to and let them know you will be happy to answer any questions they may have about the Internet. If they access an inappropriate site by accident, let them know it’s ok, and talk to them about the dangers of accessing those sites.

Create a written “Internet Usage” agreement: Shortly after talking with your children, sit down with them and write an “Internet Usage” agreement together. Establish rules for online use and consequences for breaking the rules. One rule might be if anyone in the house, parent or child, is looking at an inappropriate website or having an inappropriate IM conversation, that person is banned from using the Internet for a week and must sit down with the family to talk about his/her infraction.