More and more teenagers are logging on to the Internet every day. Although the Internet is a great source for research projects and other information, there are also dangers involved with surfing the Web.

For example, a study conducted in 2000 found that 25 percent of kids 10 to 17 years of age received unwanted pornographic material.

The Web allows you to be completely anonymous. Someone who says that he is a 15-year-old boy may actually be a 50-year-old man pretending to be a teen for inappropriate reasons. As a result, agreeing to meet in person with someone you met over the Internet is extremely dangerous, as this can result in sexual assault or even murder.

• How to Stay Safe on the Internet
• E-mail Safety
• Chat Rooms
• Assessing a Web Site
• Blogging

How to Stay Safe on the Internet

• Never give out personal information, such as your name, home address or phone number, the name of your school, pictures, credit card numbers or the names of your parents without permission from your parents.
  
• Do not meet in person with someone you met online.
  
• Do not give out your password to anyone.
  
• In chat rooms, use a name that is not gender-specific so you are less likely to receive pornographic material or other forms of harassment. If you do receive pornographic material, report it to your local police department.

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E-mail Safety

• Do not open links or files from people you do not know.
  
• Never respond to e-mails with pornographic or other inappropriate material.
  
• Do not respond to advertisements -- this confirms that you have a working e-mail account, and you will only receive more junk e-mail.

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Chat Rooms

Chat rooms can be particularly dangerous. Even when chat rooms are specifically for teens, participants are not necessarily all teens. Someone you meet in the chat room may actually be an adult predator who has made up an identity to hide his or her age.

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Assessing a Web Site

• Look for an author, a way to contact the author or organization, and a title, and make sure that the information has been recently updated, particularly if it is about health issues.
  
• Assess the credibility of the organization or author to write on the specific topic.
  
• Check if the links are still working.
  
• Check the Web site 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.
  
• See if the site seems biased or if it is trying to persuade you in a particular direction.

For more information, see "10 Tips for Evaluating Medical Resources on the Web" from the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF).

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Blogging

Blog is short for Web log. Blogs allow people to write on many topics in somewhat of an online diary. However, blogs are not private like diaries. People of all ages all over the world can read your blog, even people who know you only through your writing.

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, but there are also dangers to blogging.

The internet is anonymous. Also, remember that the Internet is public domain that anyone can access, so it is important to be take precautions when you blog.

Two Popular Blogging Services:

• Livejournal
  Xanga

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