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Know the Rules...Internet Safety Quiz for Adults

1. Where is the best place to locate your family computer?
A. Child’s bedroom
B. Family room
C. Home office in remote area of house

Answer B. The safest location for the computer is in a room where there is sufficient adult supervision.

2. Which is the best example of how to protect your children online?
A. Post clear, simple, easy-to-read house rules on or near the monitor and supervise your child’s online activity
B. Only allow your child to use the computer at the public library or school
C. Do not allow your child to “surf” the Internet without having a friend nearby

Answer A. Posting clear, simple, easy-to-read house rules is an excellent way to set boundaries for your child’s Internet use. The rules can be signed by you and your child and should be periodically reviewed. Visit www.NetSmartz.org for examples of rules. At this site you can also find safety tips and definitions to help you better understand the many different areas of the world wide web. Remember that nothing beats your supervision of and attention to what your children do while online.

3. Your children are completely safe if they only visit child-friendly chatrooms. True or False?

Answer False. Although it is recommended that your child only visit child-friendly sites, realize that anyone can access these sites. Child predators have been known to entice children in child-oriented chatrooms. Nothing can replace your supervision.

4. What should you do if your children tell you that someone they have “met” online has asked for their telephone number and wants to meet them in person?
A. Take away their computer privileges
B. Praise them for being honest with you about this information, and discuss with them the reasons why it is
unsafe to meet in person with someone they have first met online without your supervision C. Tell them that it’s okay to meet their friend as long as you know where they are going

Answer B. Rewarding your child for being forthcoming with information is an excellent way to keep the lines of communication between you open. Furthermore, your acceptance and praise of this may encourage them to report incidents to you in the future. You should remind your child not to give out personal information or meet anyone in person without your prior knowledge and consent. If you want to consider a meeting, ask to talk to the other child’s parents. If you agree to the meeting, accompany your child and meet with the other child and his or her parents in a public place.

5. Of the choices below, which is the worst screen name for a child?
A. katie_ny13
B. CuteLitlAngel
C. BlueEyes7642

Answer A. Internet predators often use screen names to select their potential targets. A screen name should never reveal any identifying information about a child especially things like a name, age, location, year of birth, school name, and year of graduation.

6. How many children received a sexual solicitation or approach over the Internet in a one-year period of time?
A. 1 in 7 children
B. 1 in 100 children
C. 1 in 500 children

Answer A. As reported by Janis Wolak, Kimberly Mitchell, and David Finkelhor in Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later, Alexandria, Virginia: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 2006, page 1, 1 in 7 children received such solicitations or approaches in 2005.

7. If you are not familiar with computers and the Internet, you should
A. Take a basic class to become familiar with them
B. Sit down with your children to have them show you web sites they visit and how they navigate through the world wide web
C. Both

Answer C. Taking a class is an excellent way to begin to learn about the Internet. Check your local adult community education schedules or with computer retailers for suggested classes. There are also many excellent books available about computers and the Internet that you could either check out from your local library or purchase. Furthermore, sitting down with your children at the computer is not only an excellent way to learn, it is also a great way to connect with them. This can be a pleasurable experience for both you and your children.

8. What should you do if you suspect online “stalking” or sexual exploitation of a child?
A. Ignore it, and hope that it goes away
B. Report it to your local law-enforcement agency and the CyberTipline^®
C. Change Internet Service Providers

Answer B. Immediately report the information to local law enforcement and the CyberTipline at www.cybertipline.com or 1-800-843-5678. The Federal Bureau of Investigation recommends – if your child or anyone in your household has received pornography depicting children, your child has been sexually solicited by someone who knows that your child is younger than 18, or your child has received sexually explicit images from someone who knows your child is younger than 18 – that you keep the computer turned off in order to preserve any evidence for future law-enforcement use. Unless directed to do so by law enforcement, you should not attempt to copy any of the images and/or text found on the computer.

9. If your children have their own personal web page and ask you if they can put their photographs on it, what should you do?
A Tell them that they can put their photograph on the web page if they promise to only give the web-site address to people they know
B. Tell them that it is not safe to put photographs on web sites

Answer B. Remember that anyone in the world can access a web page. It is not recommended to put any personal information on the Internet that may be used by online predators to identify children as targets for molestation. Publishing a child’s photograph on any web site is a risk. If your child has a personal web page, don’t post the child’s photograph on the page. If your child is a member of a group with a web site, photographs of children published online should not be accompanied with identifying information. Group shots are preferable to individual pictures, and the group may be identified as “Members of the basketball team.” Remember, even a first name can be a tool that empowers those who use the Internet to identify and stalk children. Also many schools are now posting individual information about students in Internet yearbooks. Check with your child’s school to determine their policy about posting information online.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is the national clearinghouse and resource center funded under Cooperative Agreement #98-MC-CX-K002 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions in this work are those of NCMEC and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children^® is a registered service mark of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.