Parents, are your children safe from Internet dangers?

Protect children from online predators

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 10, 2008 - Thirty-three percent of teens say their parents know little or nothing about what they do online. Forty percent of teens think it's safe to chat with people they don't know. June has been declared National Internet Safety Month to help protect our children.

GEICO and the Internet Keep Safe Coalition have provided action steps parents can take to protect their families online:

Keep the computer in a common room in the house and position the monitor so it's available for public viewing.
Establish rules for using the Internet and teach your child important safety guidelines.
Understand social networking. Teach your kids that people online are not always who they say they are. Teach your kids how to use the privacy settings and to keep any identifying information off their blogs and social networking pages.
Tell your kids to keep their personal information protected. Children should never give their real name, address, phone number, the name of their school or a picture to anyone they meet online. NEVER let your children meet in person with someone they only know from the Internet.
Protect your children's passwords and create generic names. Make sure your kids don't have screen names or aliases that reveal their personal information including their full name, age, gender, etc.
Frequently check your computer's Internet history and monitor your children's e-mail account. Let them know you're checking it and why you're doing it, and talk about potential online dangers.
Spend time with your children when they're online. Have them show you their favorite sites.
Teach your children cyber ethics. Tell them to never participate in cyber-bullying or online harassment. If it's negative, don't post it, don't text it and don't pass it on. The rules of acceptable behavior in the real world and virtual world are the same.
Be computer savvy. Secure your computer with user accounts. Use antivirus, antispyware and a firewall. Keep them current but don't rely on them as your only line of defense. For an easy, step-by-step tutorial for parents, go to www.ikeepsafe.org/PRC.
Teach your children to keep telling a parent, teacher or trusted adult if they feel uncomfortable about anything they've seen on a computer.

For additional information, visit www.ikeepsafe.org/geico.

GEICO (Government Employees Insurance Company) is the third-largest private passenger auto insurer in the United States based on the latest 12 months written premium. It provides auto insurance coverage for nearly 8.5 million policyholders and insures more than 14.4 million vehicles.

In addition to auto insurance, GEICO offers customers insurance products for their motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATV's), boats, homes, apartments and mobile homes. Commercial auto insurance and personal umbrella protection and life insurance are also available.

As a member of the Berkshire Hathaway group of companies, GEICO is rated A++ for financial stability by A.M. Best Company and ranks at the top of several national customer satisfaction surveys. For more information, go to www.geico.com.

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