Safety on the Internet

Google, email, YouTube. Smartphones, tablets, laptops. The internet is everywhere, and it’s more popular than ever. According to a 2018 Pew Research Center survey, 95 percent of teens own or have access to a smartphone, and 45 percent say they are online nearly constantly.

Although the internet is a great source for research projects, keeping up with news and connecting with friends and family, there are also dangers involved.

Despite heightened security measures, online impersonators and “fakers” still lurk online. That 15-year-old Facebook user may actually be a 50-year-old adult pretending to be a teen. Meeting up with someone you met over the internet is extremely dangerous and could result in sexual assault or even murder.

How to Stay Safe on the Internet

Whenever you’re online, use these precautions:

• Never give out personal information, such as your name, home address, phone number, school name, photos, credit card numbers or the names of your parents, without permission from your parents.
• Never meet in person with someone you’ve only met online.
• Never give your password to anyone.
• Never open email links or files from people you don’t know.
• Never open, forward or respond to emails with pornographic or other inappropriate material.
• Never respond to advertisements. This confirms that you have a working email account, and you’ll only receive more junk email.

Assessing a Website

• Check for a valid author and a valid contact for the author or organization. Make sure that the information is up to date, especially if it’s health related.
• Consider the credibility of the organization or author to write on the specific topic.
• Check the website address to see what the domain name includes: .com (commercial), .gov (government), .org (organization), .net(network), .edu (educational organization) or a two-letter country code (country of origin). This can tell you whether the site’s main goal is education or sales.
• Never blindly trust online information. See if the site seems biased or if it’s trying to persuade you in a particular direction.

Internet Privacy

The internet isn’t very private anymore. The world gets smaller as social media sites and search engines like Google continue to grow. To see for yourself, try “googling” your name. What you find is what everyone else finds.

If you find unwanted information about you online, double-check all of your privacy settings. Again, never give your password to anyone.

Social Media

About half of all U.S. teens use Facebook — but according to 2018 data, even more teens use YouTube (85 percent), Instagram (72 percent) and Snapchat (69 percent).

Many teens use social media to stay in touch with friends and family, especially those who live far away. Others enjoy finding people online who share similar interests and passions. However, some teens say that social media may reduce their ability to socialize in real life.

Social media also gives people a huge platform to spread hateful, harmful ideas and comments. Cyberbullying — targeting kids with mean comments or videos — is a growing problem with real consequences, including cases of suicide among teens.

Chat Rooms

Chat rooms can be particularly dangerous. Even when chat rooms are specifically for teens, participants are not necessarily all teens.

Adult predators who make up an identity to hide their age may lurk or hide in chat rooms. Always follow the general internet safety guidelines in any chat room.

Use a gender-neutral username in chatrooms so you’re less likely to receive pornographic material or other forms of harassment. If you do receive pornographic material, report it to your local police department.

Blogging and Vlogging

Blogs allow people to write on many topics in a form of online diary, so everyone can see it. People of all ages all over the world can read your blog. Always check your privacy settings, twice.

Blogging can be a fun way to meet people with similar interests, connect with friends who live far away and develop your writing. Blogging can help teens communicate and develop their interests.

Video blogging, or vlogging, has gained huge popularity because of YouTube. Teens all over the world post videos on a range of subjects, from gaming and baking to mental health and pranks. If a viewer clicks on ads, the vlogger can make money. Some vloggers are also paid to promote products for a company. Be aware that if a teen is pushing a certain product, they were probably paid to do so.

The internet is public domain that anyone can access, so take precautions when you blog or vlog. Don’t ever post private information such as your address or phone, and be careful about personal comments. That one post or video about how much you dislike school could end up on your principal’s or future employer’s computer screen.

Last reviewed: April 2019