A Quick Online Safety Guide
Grades 3-5

Why?
The Internet represents
s
– Great Opportunities
– Greater Responsibilities
– Greatest Chances for Dangerous Situations
19% of teens feel safer online than in the real world*
s
39% of students trust people that they chat with
s
online*
24% of students say they see nothing with chatting
s
with a stranger*
10% of students have been asked to keep their
s
Internet relationship a secret*
*iSAFE America Student Assessment, 2004

Access
Children between 8-18 use the
s
computer for more than an hour a day
s 74% have a computer with Internet
access*
s 31% have high speed access (that
number grows each year)*
*The George Lucas Foundation, “Synching Up With The iKid”, Edutopia, October 2005.

Types of People Who
Use the Internet
Responsible and Ethical
s
s Numbuts
s Hotheads
s Follow-You-Fionas
s Oogles
s Spamazoids

Responsible and
Ethical
They know the
s
difference between
right and wrong
Wary of others
s
Never shares
s
personal information
Has a good
s
password
Has a life beyond
s
the computer

Numbuts
Doesn’t have any
s
friends
Stays in their room
s
all day
Lacks social skills
s
Talks in code
s

Hotheads
They have a temper
s
They can lose
s
control of their
temperature
They say mean
s
things
Photo courtesy of Netsmartzkids.org

Follow-You-Fionas
People who want to
s
be more than online
friends
Try to get personal
s
information
May not be who
s
they say they are
Trying to meet you
s
in person
Photo courtesy of Netsmartzkids.org

Oogles
Trying to collect your
s
personal information
Want to sell that
s
information to others
Follow you around the
s
Internet
They are sneaky may
s
want to give you “free”
stuff
Photo courtesy of Netsmartzkids.org

Spamazoids
They send out annoying
s
message that clog email
accounts
You didn’t ask for these
s
messages
May contain things that do
s
bad things to your computer
Watch out for phishing
s
(looking for personal
information through email,
usually updating accounts
that you may or may not
have with legit companies)
Photo courtesy of Netsmartzkids.org

Your Personal
Information
Phone Number, Address, Age, Name, Parents’
s
Name, School, Grade, Work Information,
Passwords, Usernames, etc.
Once you give it away you can never take it
s
back completely
The only people you should trust with it are
s
your parents (not even your best friend)
Avoid putting personal pictures of yourself
s
and friends online

Usernames and
Profiles
Make them unique and generic
s
s Only provide the required information
s Resist the temptation to revel personal
information through usernames and
profiles

Passwords
Your key to safety
s
s Make it strong
– Use a mix of capital and lower case letters,
numbers, and special characters
– Make it at least 8 characters long
– Don’t use words or names
Change it on a regular basis
s

Online Friends
Let them be just that
s
s Don’t meet people you only know from
being online with them
s You have no idea who the person is on
the other computer
s Online only friends are still strangers

Cyber-bullying
More likely to occur online than in person
s
(42% of students have been bullied)
Follows you around easier than in person
s
Avoid situations by
s
– Being kind to others
– Don’t use ALL CAPS
– Don’t send messages when you are angry
Let adults know when it happens (58% of
s
students have not told an adult when they’ve
been bullied online)
*iSAFE America Student Assessment, 2004

Don’t be afraid to talk
Your parents care
s
s Involve them with your “online” life
s Let them know if you run into things
that make you feel scared and
comfortable
s Always get permission first

Putting up your guards
Free Stuff
s
s Attachments
s Online Protection

“Free Stuff”
Nothing is free on the Internet
s
s Your personal information is usually at
risk
s Could be hidden costs that follow you
for a long time

Attachments
Added parts to the email
s
May be legit stuff
s
Could be a way for others to affect your
s
computer with a virus or spyware
Can be tricky and use people that you know
s
(check in with them before you open
attachments)
Never open .exe attachments
s
Watch out for links as well
s

Online Protection
Get yourself Anti-Virus software
s
– AVG (free for home use)
– ClamAV (free for home use)
– Norton’s, McAfee ($)
Get Adware and Spyware protection too
s
– Microsoft Defender
– Lavasoft
– Spybot
Check with your ISP to see if they offer any
s
online protection
Update your software regularly and have it
s
set to scan automatically