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August 7, 2006

TANNER OFFERS SAFER WEB-SURFING TIPS
TO HELP PROTECT FAMILIES ONLINE

It is important for families to have serious conversations about how to stay safe while using the Internet, Congressman John Tanner said. As students become more comfortable with Web surfing and online criminals become more daring, children can fall prey to online predators and families can become victims of identity theft.

“Almost 9 out of 10 teenagers use the Internet regularly,” Tanner said. “The Web can be a great tool to connect them to the world but can also be dangerous if some guidelines are not established with their parents.”

One in five children between the ages of 10 and 17 has been sexually solicited online, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Youth Internet Safety Survey.

Those figures are “staggeringly high and deeply disturbing,” Tanner said. He offered the following tips to help parents keep their families safe while online:

  1. Talk to kids about how and why they use the Internet, and monitor where they are surfing.
  2. Keep your computer in a common room, and do not allow webcams in bedrooms.
  3. Discourage children from posting photos or giving personal information in a chat room or on Web sites.
  4. Urge children to report anything they see online that makes them scared or nervous.
  5. Warn children about personally meeting any online contact. If they do, they should tell a parent, go to a public place and never go alone.
  6. Record their user names and passwords, and remind children to always protect them.
  7. Report messages that are suggestive or threatening. “Cyber bullying” is illegal.
  8. Tell kids that not everything they read online is true. People online can and will misrepresent themselves.
  9. Install the latest anti-virus and spyware programs to protect your computer and personal information.
  10. Visit OnGuardOnline.gov for more ways to protect you and your family.

The House of Representatives, with Tanner’s support, recently passed the “Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act,” named for six-year-old Adam Walsh, who was abducted 25 years ago. Adam was the son of John Walsh, the victims’ rights advocate and host of “America’s Most Wanted.” The new law, signed by President Bush, creates a national sex offender registry, imposes tougher penalties for serious crimes committed against children through the Internet, and combats child pornography on the Internet.

Tanner said he also co-sponsors the bipartisan “SAFER NET Act of 2006,” which was introduced this year by Congresswoman Melissa Bean. That bill, HR 4982, would allow the federal government to increase public awareness of the threats posed by some online activities.

Congressman Tanner represents Tennessee’s 8th district in west and middle Tennessee and serves on the Congressional Internet Caucus.

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Contact: Randy Ford, 202.225.4714

     

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