At any time of the day or night you can find people communicating through the internet. Unfortunately, not all of that communication is properly understood. To avoid problems when young ones use computers, it’s important to teach children internet etiquette.
So many people use email these days. It is for this reason the Postal Service claims they’re struggling and will have to make changes to the services they offer. When anyone uses email, they’ll want to understand that tone can come across differently than it may have been meant. This is especially important for children to understand. The potential for misunderstanding is something to consider. Here are some useful tips to help avoid this problem.
1. Ensure your child is sending the message to the person they intended to sent it to. This is a problem for adults, so it’s easy to understand how a child might send an email to the wrong person. How do you keep this from happening? Confirm the spelling of the contact person or address, make certain they save email addresses when they receive a message, and check the screen name to verify it’s the right person.
2. Update email addresses from time to time. There are occasions where people will change their internet provider so their email address may change. If an address is changed, be careful to change it in your address book.
3. Instruct your children to avoid sending spam or junk email. Some jokes, urban legends, or chain letters have been making their way around the World Wide Web for years. There’s no reason to keep them moving along. Teach your child that if they’re sending an email, it should have information they would tell someone in person. If they wouldn’t share it face-to-face, they probably don’t want to send it through email.
4. Explain the importance of not sending attachments. If there is something your child would like to forward to a friend as an attachment, they would do well to send an email first asking if it would be alright to send. They can also use the text of the document to include the photo, or cut and paste a document. If they must send an attachment, suggest they name the document something specific rather than ‘document.’
5. If your child is writing on forums or social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, help your child realize the wisdom of keeping religious, political, or racial opinions to themselves. This is important particularly when there could be people from other cultures participating.
6. Help your child understand that whatever is said on the internet can be there for the whole world to see. If they would be embarrassed for something to be repeated at school, they probably don’t want to broadcast it all over the internet.
7. Expect your child to apologize immediately if they have said something inappropriate or insensitive. This will ease any problems that may have been caused. The same holds true if someone has hurt them; ask your child to politely explain why they were hurt by what was said. Most people will apologize and make things right.
When thinking about how to teach children internet etiquette, you want to remember that the way they intend something isn’t necessarily the way someone reads it. If they follow the tips given above, they are more likely to avoid problems and enjoy their experience online.