Disability Law

These computer safety tips are adapted from a publication by the Texas Young Lawyers Association:

• Keep computers in a common area of the home so you can monitor your child?s online activities.
• Encourage your child to use a nickname rather than his or her real name when online.
• Tell your child to be careful when posing for pictures or videos.
• Remind your children that anything they post can potentially be viewed by millions of people.
• Teach your child to think about what he or she is posting before doing so.
• Tell your child it?s never okay to meet someone he or she has met only online.
• Teach your children to keep identifying information about themselves and photos off of their blogs and social networking profiles.
• Learn about the social networking sites your child uses; if he or she has a MySpace page, learn how to use MySpace.
• Teach your children to set their personal settings on social networking sites to ?private? and make sure they ?friend? you.
• Be engaged, and communicate with your child; let him or her know that you will check the computer history and text messages or even Google their names.
• Tell your child to keep passwords secret. Watch your child for signs of cyber-bullying.
• If your child is being cyber-bullied, save all evidence, including e-mails and text messages.
• Tell your children to talk to an adult if they are being cyber-bullied.
• Remind your children to treat others the way they would like to be treated.
• If your child knows someone who is being cyber-bullied, encourage him or her to reach out and help that person.
• Teach your child not to forward photos that may be embarrassing or hurtful to others.
• Talk with your child and create a relationship of trust.