Safe Surfing

America Links Up This site offers some basic, common-sense Web-surfing "tools and tips" for both parents and kids. It also features more than 40 links to child-safe Web browsers and filters, links to over 50 kid-friendly Web sites, and still more links to sites offering a variety of family resources and additional safety tips.

The Librarian’s Guide to Cyberspace for Parents and Kids This page from the American Library Association offers good suggestions and links to help you use the Web safely at home, at school, and at the library. A link from this page will take you to the ALA’s "Great Links" Parents’ Page, which offers links to over 700 "great sites for kids and the adults who care about them."

Acceptable Use Policies from Several Districts An acceptable use policy (AUP) is a set of guidelines for the responsible use of a school, parish, or home computer system and the Internet. This page offers links to actual acceptable use policies as established by a variety of schools, school districts, and universities. You may want to use one or more of them as models as you set up your own AUP.

The Alphabet Superhighway: Acceptable Use Policies What is an acceptable use policy (AUP)? What should it include? How can I set one up for my school, my parish, or my family? This Web site has the answers to these and other questions and also offers a wealth of links to AUP–related resources elsewhere on the Web.

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 Some key requirements of The Children’s Online Privacy protection Act of 1998, a law which is known familiarly by its initials (COPPA), went into effect on April 21, 2000. Under the rules established in the COPPA, certain commercial web sites must now obtain parental consent before they collect, use, or disclose personal information from children under the age of 13. This site describes the implementation and some of the key provisions of the act and also offers a link to the FTC’s "Privacy Initiatives" page, where you will find links to more sites dealing with web privacy issues. One of the best of these links is to the FTC’s own "Kidz Privacy" site, a lively roundup of information for children and adults that includes a link to the full text of the COPPA law itself.

SafeKids.Com This site brings together an assortment of helpful articles, links, and other resources (check out the excellent "Online Safety Quiz" for kids) designed to make your family’s online experience both fun and productive. The site also offers free subscriptions to a weekly, email-delivered Net Family Newsletter full of "family-relevant Web news designed to keep grownups up to speed on the Information Superhighway."