• Never give out identifying information-- home address, school name, or telephone number-- to an Internet address, and be sure you're dealing with an organization and/or individual that both you and your child know and trust. Think carefully before revealing any personal information such as age, marital status, or financial information. Consider using a pseudonym.
• Get to know the services your child uses. If you don't know how to log on, get your child to show you.
• Never allow a child to arrange a face-to-face meeting with another computer user without parental permission. If a meeting is arranged, make the first one in a public spot, and be sure to accompany your child.
• Never respond to messages or bulletin board items that are suggestive, obscene, belligerent, threatening, or make you feel uncomfortable. Encourage your childrens to tell you if they encounter such messages.
• Remember that people online may not be who they seem. Because you can't see or even hear the person, it would be easy for someone to misrepresent him- or herself.
• Remember that eveything you read online may not be true. Any offer that's "too good to be true" probably is. Be careful about any offers that involve your coming to a meeting or having someone visit your house.

* "Guideline for Parents" is adapted from "Child Safety on the Information Highway," by Lawrence J. Magid. It is reprinted with permission of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Copyright NCMEC 1994. All rights reserved.