Adults can learn online safety

By Tim Brust, Special to The Times
When Susan Zimmer heard an expert being interviewed about computer safety, she realized there were just too many things she and other parents didn’t know about new technologies and how their children are using them.

After all, Zimmer said, the world was a completely different place when she graduated from college. Home computers simply didn’t exist and no one had even imagined the world of electronic socializing through instant messaging and personal Web sites.

It was clear to her that the Internet, a wonderful tool for gathering information, can also be a dangerous place for anyone, let alone children.

Zimmer decided to see if she could get that expert, Brian Rice of Family Safe Computers, to come lead a seminar in this area to educate parents about some of the things they need to make sure their children avoid while online. Her church, Wagner Union Church, was more than happy to play host to the seminar and pay Rice’s fee and expenses.

The church’s former pastor, Glenn Pryor, said helping parents understand some of the things they needed to be aware of is a mission the church gladly undertook.

“In today’s world, as volatile as it is ... we try to protect our children the best we can,” he said.

With the church’s support, Zimmer was able to set up a 90-minute seminar for Saturday to go over topics from very basic computing to surfing the Web, social networking, search engines and chat rooms. Other topics included clueing parents in on some of the abbreviations the children use while chatting online to friends.

Zimmer said her children, as well as most others, live and breathe computers and parents need to know exactly what they’re doing with the computer and the Internet.

“We as parents need to understand (things like) MySpace and instant messaging,” she said.

Pryor agreed, saying parents need to vigilant about who their children are talking to online. He said sometimes kids themselves are fooled into thinking they are talking to someone their own age when they’re not. Unfortunately, he said, it’s a fact that there are sexual predators on the Internet that are always looking for victims.

“They (our children) may have contact with people we don’t want them to have contact with,” he said.

Pryor said it’s important for parents to know what you need to do and what you can do, technically, to block objectionable material or Web sites.

He said while there is a lot that is good about the Internet, there’s a lot that’s not so good. Those not so good things, he said, can either be found purposely, or stumbled upon by unsuspecting surfers.

The seminar is open to anyone, free of charge.