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Readers' comments on any of these resources are alsways welcome! Do email us via feedback@netfamilynews.org.Detective Williams's Tip No. 3 - 'What your child is doing at that computer may not always be homework!'
"This may sound kind of obvious," Bob writes, "but my experience as a police officer has shown that a lot of parents don't know this. There are plenty of distractions like instant-messaging, music-downloading, gear research, and invitations from friends to check out other sites on the Web that don't have much to do with homework.
"For example, in one case an 11-year-old boy placed an order for fireworks online (some classified as bombs by the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) and had them delivered to the neighbors' house. The boy's grandfather appeared at my office with the box, seeking advice. He returned with his grandson for a talk, and the boy related that he went online, determined the cost of his order, went to the post office and got a money order and snail- mailed his order. The package was delivered to the house of an elderly neighbor, who kept it for the boy. He had told the neighbor that it was a "surprise birthday present" for his mother (she was later most definitely surprised). The neighbor got impatient and handed the package to the grandfather in the driveway.
"The boy told me that 'all his friends' were buying fireworks online, and one of them had told him to check out the fireworks Web site. Soon they were all networking and exchanging this information.
"I am sure parents have observed this with their own children. The child comes home from school with Web addresses written on the back of her hand or on little scraps of paper that end up in the dryer's lint filter. Online kids are no different from parents - we swap tips on good restaurants, discount sports equipment for kids, reliable babysitters, etc. Kids find and share Web sites of interest, and that's where a good child can end up in trouble. I find that children aren't equipped to analyze and solve problems they encounter online, whether they are being harassed by a peer or contacted by a child predator or they're providing personal information for a contest entry. But we can certainly help them learn this kind of critical thinking.
"One other suggestion I offer: Do not leave your child with the impression that, if something negative happens online and they are honest enough to tell you, you're going to pull the plug. Once a child senses that termination of use could happen, he may not tell you about his online experiences. Let's keep those lines of communication open!"
Det. Bob Williams is a father of two high school students and Youth Officer in the Greenwich, Conn., Police Departmen. You'll find other parts of this series here.
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