Good Websites for Games
Although the InfoFLY has taken every effort to ensure that these sites are suitable he has to warn you that he can not be responsible for the content of external links.
InfoFLY has given you some basic guidelines for staying safe on the internet but for more information CEOP (Child Exploitation & Online Protection) run by the Police gives you loads of advice on staying safe and tells you what to do if you think something online is suspicious. They have specific pages for young people called Think U Know .
Net Smart rules
Keep the peace!
Always check that your parent/carer is happy for you to enter a chatroom.
Don’t dish it out!
When you visit a chatroom, it is a good idea to sign on using a nickname, and when you’re chatting don’t give out your real name, your email address, your age, your phone number, where you live, your school, whether you are a boy or girl, and don’t publish or send out a picture of yourself.
It is best to keep all this info to yourself because you never know who might be in there and can see it.
Signing up
It's not always straightforward!
Often before you can join a chatroom in the first place, or get a new email address, buy something or do other things on the internet, you will need to sign up online and give out some personal info like your name, address and telephone number.
Before you do this, first ask your parent/carer if that is OK. Then check how the company providing the service is planning to use the information you give them. Will all or some of it appear online as part of a profile that anyone can see when you use the service, or can you choose not to allow that? If you can, do.
Some chatrooms will insist on publishing some details about you every time you go online. They may just take bits of the profile you have already given them when you signed up.
Others will allow you to create a new profile specially for publication on the internet. Either way these profiles can generally be viewed by anyone using the same chatroom or service. So stick to your nickname , or just don’t fill it in! This way there’s less chance of people contacting you when you might not want them to.
Unless you tell them not to, some companies might pass all or some of this information on to other companies and then you could get bombarded with spam (unwanted emails). Check any forms you fill in - most have a small box you can tick or un-tick to make sure your information is not passed on.
Wise up!
You can’t always be sure it's only people your age in a chatroom. Chat safely: it could be an adult winding you up or trying to trick you.
Pop ya collar!
Leave a chatroom the moment anything worries you. Let your parent/carer know what’s up and report it to the chat service provider. Save any conversations that you think could prove someone has been bullying or harassing you. Some chatrooms have instructions on how to do this.
Web-wasters!
Report bad-taste and bad-attitude messages in chatrooms to your parent/carer and your internet service provider or whoever runs the chatroom.
Back up!
Never arrange to meet anyone in the real world who you only know online, unless your parent/carer agrees and comes with you. If your parent/carer does agree and comes with you, never arrange to meet at your online friend's house. Stay in a public place like a café or shopping centre: it's safer.
It's everywhere!
The internet is no longer something you only use through your computer at school or at home. Some mobile phones provide internet access, some games consoles do as well. You need to stay just as sussed when on the internet via phones or consoles, as with a computer.
Reality check!
Keep clear of over 18 chatrooms, websites and other parts of the internet intended for adults. The warnings are for your protection and adult sites can sometimes do serious damage to your phone bill.
Word up!
All passwords you use on computers are PRIVATE. Keep them to yourself.
Attack of the attached!
Viruses can spread through email attachments, causing serious damage or even destroy your computer. Make sure the emails are from people you know and trust before opening them. Even this isn't always foolproof so if you're unsure - scan it for viruses first or bin it!
Ask your internet service provider if it automatically screens emails for viruses, or try and choose a web-based e-mail account that does this automatically, or at least offers you the option to scan them. Always have a virus-checker onboard anyway. See www.norton.com and www.mcafee.com to find out more.
Have fun and stay Net Smart!
These guidlines are from the NCH children's charity website.
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