Safety tips for children online

The Southern Pines Police Department shared these safety tips for parents whose children go online.

Posted 1:23 p.m. May 21, 2012 — Updated 1:23 p.m. May 21, 2012

The Southern Pines Police Department shared these safety tips for parents whose children go online.

Talk to your children about the risks.
Explain that online information and images can remain accessible forever. It can very hard and sometimes impossible to take down information that is posted, and photos and information might have already been copied and posted elsewhere.
Tell your children not to post any identifying information online. That includes their cell phone number, address, hometown, school name, birth date and anything else that a stranger could use to locate them.
Explain that anyone in the world can access what they post online. Tell your children that some college admissions boards and employers are checking social networking sites before they admit students or make hiring decisions.
Make sure that children understand that some people they meet online might not be who they say they are. Explain that on the Internet, many people are not truthful about their identity and might even pretend to be someone else. It's important to stress that young people should never meet people face-to-face that they met online.