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Teen
Safety on the Information Highway
Risks
By Area
Web sites give you the
opportunity to read newspapers, tour museums, check out libraries,
visit distant lands, play games, look at pictures, shop, or do
research to help you with your homework. You can pursue your
hobbies, plan vacations, and much more. There are millions of web
sites on just about every topic imaginable.
Did You
Know?
Some
web sites are wonderful, others are kind of dumb, and some contain
so-called "adult" images and other material that teens
should avoid. Still others are violent, racist, sexist, and
demeaning. Some of these sites contain material that can be
disturbing, even for adults. If you wander into any of these areas,
it's best to leave immediately by clicking on the Home icon, going
to another site, or shutting down your browser.
Caution
In addition to displaying
information, web sites sometimes ask you for information about
yourself. The site may ask for your name, mailing address,
E-mail address, and other information before it will let you in.
It may entice you to provide information in exchange for sending you
a promotional item or entering you in a contest. Never enter any
information about yourself without first checking with your parents.
When you enter
information on a web site or anyplace on the Internet, you're giving
up a bit of your privacy. At best, your name will wind up in some
database, probably to be used to sell you something now or later. At
worst, it could be used to harm or exploit you. Just because a web
site seems to be operated by a reputable organization or individual
doesn't mean that it necessarily is what it seems to be. Anyone –
including creeps and criminals – can set up their own web site. So
be extremely cautious before telling the "web master"
anything about yourself. This is especially true with sites that
contain adult material.
Some teenagers
have their own web sites or post material to web sites maintained by
their school or an organization. That's terrific, but if you do post
something on the web, be sure never to include your home address,
telephone number, or a photograph of yourself. If you do want people
to be able to contact you through the web, just give an E-mail
address.
Chat rooms let you
engage in a live conversation with people around the block or around
the world. It’s like being on a party line, only you type instead
of talk. Everyone in the "chat room" can see
everything you type. The types of chat rooms vary depending on the
service you’re using. Some chat rooms are just open conversations.
Everyone has a pretty much equal role. Some rooms are moderated
where there is a “speaker” who is leading the discussion and
participants. Some rooms have chaperons or monitors who are
responsible for maintaining order, but even in some of these rooms
what you type is displayed immediately. The monitor can kick someone
out of the room who is acting in an inappropriate manner, but he or
she may be able to act only after the fact. The monitor can’t,
however, prevent you from going off to a private chat area with a
person who might do you harm or typing information that could put
you in danger.
Did You
Know? Chat is probably
the most dangerous area on the Internet for a couple of reasons. As
with other areas of the Internet, you don’t know who is there, so
never say anything in a chat room that you wouldn’t say in public.
It’s not uncommon
for people to make “friends” in chat rooms. You enter a room;
start a conversation with someone; and, before you know it, you’ve
established a relationship of sorts. That relationship could turn
out OK, but there are some not-so-happy stories. Chat rooms are
sometimes used by people to exploit others. To put it bluntly, chat
rooms – especially those used by teenagers – are sometimes also
used by pedophiles to find victims. Adults or even older teens
seeking to exploit younger people don't necessarily tell the truth
about who they are.
You might meet
someone in a room who appears to be sympathetic and understanding
and offers you wonderful advice and counsel. If the
relationship remains strictly online, that could be OK as long as
you’re careful not to give out any personal information and you
let your parents know.
Caution
It can be tempting to get together
with someone you meet in a chat room, but remember – people are
not always who they seem to be. The basic rules for online
safety apply to all areas of the Internet, but they are especially
important in chat areas. Never give out personal information, and
never arrange a face-to-face meeting with someone you meet in a chat
room without first checking with your parents and taking the
precautions listed in “Never Get Together With Someone You
‘Meet’ Online” on page 12.
Chat rooms are
sometimes organized around topics, so avoid any topic area that
makes you feel uncomfortable. But just because a chat room is
designed around a particular topic doesn’t mean that other topics
aren’t discussed. Even if the room is “teens only,” you
have no way of knowing if everyone really is a teenager, so you
still have to be on guard.
Be especially careful
of chat rooms that get into subjects that might be associated with
sex or cults or groups that practice potentially dangerous rituals.
It might seem interesting or even fun to discuss actions that you
might never consider engaging in, but some people who fantasize
about things also like to carry them out.
Be suspicious of
anyone who tries to turn you against your parents, teachers, or
friends. They may have a hidden agenda.
On some services and
web sites you can enter into a private chat area where you can
arrange to meet friends. In some cases, those rooms are truly
private. But in other cases they may be listed in a directory of
rooms. If so, there is nothing to stop others from entering those
rooms.
One trick to avoid
harassment, especially for women and girls, is to choose a
gender-neutral name – like your initials or a word – to use in a
chat room. It’s fine to be cute or funny with the name you choose,
but be sure it doesn’t identify you and doesn’t have any meaning
or implication that might encourage others to bother you.
E-mail is typically a
one-to-one communications system. Just like regular mail, you write
to someone and they can write back.
Did You
Know? Increasingly,
people and companies are using E-mail to send out messages to
thousands of people at a time, encouraging them to buy something, do
something, or visit a web site. The process, known as
“spamming,” can be intrusive and annoying. Because E-mail
is essentially free, “spammers” can send out thousands or even
millions of messages at little or no cost. Some use spamming
to try to entice people to visit sexually explicit web sites.
Each E-mail message
that you send and receive contains a return address. What many
people don’t realize is that the return address can be fake. So,
just because you get a message from “grandma@cottage.com”
doesn’t mean it’s really from grandma. It could really be from
“wolf@bigfangs.com.” E-mail also contains other information
called a “header” that provides more information about who sent
the message and where it came from. Understanding the header
information can be difficult, but if you ever receive an E-mail
message that is belligerent, threatening, or contains material that
makes you feel uncomfortable, you should report it to your
Internet service provider and ask them to investigate where it came
from. If the material appears to be illegal in nature, you
should report it to the CyberTipline at www.missingkids.com/cybertip
or call 1-800-843-5678. Illegal material includes threats to your
life or safety, threats to others, child pornography, and evidence
of other crimes. NCMEC will refer this report to the appropriate
federal law enforcement agencies.
Caution
Be careful how you respond to E-mail from
people you don’t know. Remember, the sender might not be who he or
she seems to be. Never send a photograph of yourself or any personal
information to someone you don't know. Also, E-mail can easily
be copied and forwarded to others. So if you do send personal
information to friends, be sure that they are willing to respect
your privacy.
In general, it’s
best not to respond to spam mail or mail from someone you don’t
know. By responding, you are verifying to the sender that you have a
valid E-mail address, and that information can be used to encourage
a person who may send inappropriate E-mails or get you on even more
lists. If you receive a message that contains material that is
sexually explicit, violent, or advocates something that is illegal
or simply makes you feel uncomfortable, show it to your parents and report
that message to your Internet service provider. You can usually find
that address on the service’s main web page (www.servicename.com).
When in doubt, report the message to postmaster@servicename.com
(substitute the name of your service for “servicename”).
Newsgroups (sometimes
called bulletin boards or forums) are places where you can read and
post messages or download or upload files. Unlike chat rooms,
newsgroups are not live or "real time." If you post a
message it remains on the newsgroup for people to look at later.
Newsgroups can also be used to post files including computer
programs, pictures, illustrations, and stories.
Did You
Know? There are
newsgroups on almost every possible subject, and they are often used
as ways to get questions answered and share information about
hobbies, musical groups, or any other subject of interest.
Unfortunately, newsgroups, like other areas of cyberspace, have
risks.
Caution
The biggest risk is that you might post
something that reveals information about yourself. Even if you are
responding to a particular individual's posting, what you type, in
most cases, is available for anyone to see. So, once again, remember
the basic rules and never reveal identifying information about
yourself. In many cases, the mere act of posting something
makes your E-mail address public. Even if you don't say
anything revealing, your address will be available for people to
send you E-mail that could be bothersome, and newsgroups are a
favorite place for people who send out junk mail ("spam")
to gather addresses.
There are newsgroups
that contain sexually explicit stories, illustrations, and
photographs. In some cases, this material may be illegal, especially
if it contains images of people who are younger than the age of 18
or certain other material that has been defined as
"obscene." Some of this material can be disturbing and
should be avoided. It is dangerous to post anything in these
types of groups because anything you type reveals your E-mail
address which could reveal your identity. Remember, anytime you post
to a newsgroup you are broadcasting your E-mail address, even if you
don’t include your actual name.
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