It's time for parents to sit down and have "the talk" with their teens. No, not that talk -- I'm referring to the one in which parents and other guardians teach their kids to be safer online. The kids need to hear -- from you -- the rules about not talking to strangers or revealing personal information online.
Don't think you can make a difference? A recent Teen Survey by Cox Communications, in partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, found that when parents and other guardians talked to their teens about Internet safety, the teens' exposure to potential threats declined and they made safer online decisions.
Fewer teens whose parents or other guardians have talked to them "a lot" about online safety have an instant-messaging (IM) name or pictures of themselves on the Internet, compared with teens who have not had this talk. And more teens who've had this talk than those who haven't ignore messages from unfamiliar people, refuse to reply or chat, block unknown senders, and report such attempted contacts to adults.
We discussed these statistics and many more during Cox's Teen Summit on Internet Safety, held in June, in Washington. I was one of 10 teen delegates sent to the summit.
Here's my advice for parents and other guardians about having "the talk." Don't overreact. Your children need to feel they can tell you when they receive an unsolicited message, or if someone makes them feel uncomfortable while online. Seventy percent of teens receive unsolicited e-mails and other messages, but only one in five will tell his or her parents or other guardians.
Why? We agreed that teens don't tell because they're embarrassed by the message they received, and afraid they will be blamed for it. Have "the talk," hold your kids accountable, but stay calm, to keep the lines of communication open.
With almost half of 16- and 17-year-olds reporting that their parents or other guardians know "very little" or "nothing" about their online activities, there are millions of unplugged, uninformed parental figures. But that can change if the adults take precautions such as talking to their kids and visiting www.Cox.com/TakeCharge, for online-safety tools, tips and a glossary of Internet chat lingo.
Have "the talk" today. The survey found that 30 percent of teens are considering a face-to-face meeting with a person they met online. Fourteen percent of teens have already had such a meeting. Do your part to prevent this from continuing to happen.
Melissa Rehon, a 2006 graduate of Warwick's Pilgrim High School, was selected by Cox Communications as one of 10 teenagers nationwide to attend the recent Teen Summit, in Washington, addressing the ways, good and bad, that adolescents use the Internet. This fall she will attend Brigham Young University.
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