CIPA Regulations

Chrissie's last blog about the dangers of the Internet for children is right on target. Dr. Barbara Staggs, former legislator and school superintendent, has been trying to educate the public about the dangers of allowing children unlimited access to the Internet, unregulated by any adult supervision. We all begin accumulating an Internet dossier the minute we sign onto any website with a login and password. Making sure children know about the dangers of the Internet, as well as practical things like using a pseudonym on Facebook, restricting their Facebook view settings, or not giving out personal information such as addresses and phone numbers over the Internet is a must, especially since their lives will be increasingly lived via the virtual world.

The federal government has also issued school regulations for protecting our children against Internet pornography. The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is a federal law enacted by Congress to address concerns about access to offensive content over the Internet on school and library computers. Our public schools try hard to protect children from exposure to harmful sites and have filters in place to deny access to any questionable Web site. The guidelines are in place not only to protect, but also to educate our students about proper safeguards and use of the Internet.

Cyberbullying is also a threat and is another good reason to monitor your child's actions over the Internet. Bullying can take many avenues, including text messaging, emails, chat rooms and social networking sites. The safest way to protect your child is to stay educated yourself. We could all fall prey to Internet malefactors who try to hijack the fun and fabulous possibilities the Internet holds, just because they can.