National and Local Experts Teach Children and Parents Online Safety

The 2011 RSA Conference in San Francisco, a five-day event that brings together cyber security experts to talk about the latest in information security, wrapped up Friday. And students and parents from benefited, with a mini-course on what they needed to know, from industry heavyweights.

Gardner Bullis School hosted a “” Feb. 14 to discuss how to keep children safe in a virtual world. The forum included a panel of experts from the National Cyber Security Alliance, law enforcement, Yahoo and more.

One of the panelists, Michelle Dennedy, is a Gardner Bullis parent who is involved in the National Cyber Security Alliance. With younger and younger children using the Internet every day, she said, the need for online safety and knowledge is expanding into the lower grade levels. 

School Superintendent Jeff Baier agreed, saying, “We want to make sure that as children are going online more and more for research, that we’re making sure they understand how to be safe, how to be ethical."

Third- through sixth-graders at the Los Altos Hills school heard presentations and were able to ask questions in their classrooms earlier that day.

During the evening panel for parents, the experts gave suggestions from their own family experiences and from their work research, and took questions.

Take social networking.

“Yesterday I got an e-mail from my 12-year-old niece and was horrified to find out she was on Facebook, instead of being happy to connect with her,” said Pamela Warren, a cyber-crime strategist at McAfee, a software virus-prevention company.

Warren said her niece had her full name, full head-shot picture of herself, her city of residence and more, all visible on her account. She suggested the parents in the room check what information their children have on their social-networking accounts.

The panelists also included Anne Toth, chief privacy officer at Yahoo; Ari Schwartz, senior Internet policy adviser for the National Institute of Standards and Technology; Marcus Sachs, vice president of National Security Policy; and Michael Kaiser, executive director, National Cyber Security Alliance.

Most panelists agreed on establishing simple rules for children, such as keeping the computer in public view (not in the child’s bedroom) and setting time limits on computers or laptops, as well as other devices, like mobile phones or gaming systems.

“Stop. Think. Connect,” Warren said, repeating several times the advice prominently featured on the National Cyber Security Alliance homepage. “Stop, when receiving something new. Think about it, before you connect.”

Detective Doug Kubik, from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department, said “sexting” cases are very prevalent right now.

“A child sends inappropriate pictures to their boyfriend or girlfriend, then two weeks later, when their ‘forever relationship’ ends, the other then sends it to other people," Kubik said. "Within one week, that can become worldwide, we’ve seen.”

Kubik and others agreed that whether it’s pictures over the phone, pictures online or just words online, parents should tell their kids not to post something they would not be comfortable and proud showing their grandmother.

Dennedy, CEO and founder of The iDennedy Project, added that parents need to watch what sites or pop-ups children click on, because of identity theft.

Identity theft? It’s becoming more common in children, because nobody checks on it until years later when they apply for internships or financial aid, she said.

Dennedy added that Allclearid.com can check a child’s identity for free.

Parents can visit Staysafeonline.org for more tips on keeping their children safe. The most important thing, all agreed, is to keep the conversation open between children and parents. That way, they will openly tell you what they are doing on the phone, computer, whatever, and even ask you questions, said Aimee Larsen-Kirkpatrick, director of communication and outreach at the National Cyber Security Alliance.

As much as children are online today, they still need to have conversations face to face and go to libraries for books, most agreed.

“You are the parents, and there’s nothing that replaces face time with you—not online, not on the phone. Just remember that,” said Erica Gilbert, principal of Gardner Bullis School.