Internet Safety

Burrillville Police Department Detective Division

The Burrillville Police Department put on a presentation for Burrillville Middle and High School families about keeping children safe.

NetSmartz.org

One of the best free resources available for parents, children, teens and educators. A wealth of information to discuss and share as a family. If you have middle school or high school students, make sure to check out the videos section for "Real Life Stories" demonstrating the dangers and consequences of cyber-bullying and "over sharing" of information!

Family Online Safety Institute

Online safety is everyone’s concern - from preschoolers to grandparents. The Family Online Safety Institute brings a unique, international perspective to the potential risks, harms as well as the rewards of our online lives. FOSI’s 30+ members, from Amazon to Yahoo! represent the leading Internet and communications companies in the world. And our work encompasses public policy, industry best practice as well as good digital parenting.

Common Sense Media

Common Sense Media is a site that is chock full of ratings and reviews of a wide variety of media, including video games, web sites, music, movies, and TV shows. Not sure if a particular game, web site, movie, etc. is appropriate for your kids? This is a good place to look for information, as well as tips on digital literacy.

FBI: A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety

While not as flashy or visually appealing as some other sites, this site does contain excellent information for parents.

OpenDNS

OpenDNS offers both free and inexpensive paid solutions for internet filtering and parental controls for your home internet connection. Even if you are not a technology expert, OpenDNS has instructions on how to implement their service in your home. The best part about the OpenDNS service is that it will cover all the devices in your home that are connected to your internet connection.

Google Safety Center - For Families

Google has assembled an excellent resource for parents on general online safety, as well as specific tips for enabling some of the safety tools available within Google products (Search, YouTube, Chat, Google+, etc.) The "Tips from Parents at Google" section contains some terrific short videos showing Google employees talk about how they approach online safety with their own children.

Microsoft Family Safety

Like Google, Microsoft has assembled a resource that contains general online safety tips with information about specific tools that can be used with Microsoft products. The "Use family safety settings" section is particularly comprehensive in listing how to use the tools within a wide variety of Microsoft products, including XBox, Kinect, and Windows.

Resources from Apple

While Apple doesn't yet have a "one stop shopping" site listing all their online safety resources and tools, they do have pages that cover individual products. If you have a Mac, an iPhone, iPod, iPad or use iTunes, these pages are very helpful.

  • Mac OS X Yosemite Parental Controls

  • Mac OS X Mavericks Parental Controls

  • iOS: Understanding iOS Restrictions

  • iTunes: Using Parental Controls

ESRB Family Guide

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) site has a good resource with directions on how to activate and configure parental and content controls on the most popular gaming devices.

Cox Communications: Take Charge of Your Family's Digital Life

Cox Communications has assembled resources and tips showing parents how to take advantage of the safety tools available within Cox products, as well as some more general resources. Helpful if you have any Cox services in your home.

Verizon: Online Safety information

Verizon has assembled resources and tips showing parents how to take advantage of the safety tools available within Verizon products, as well as some more general resources. Helpful if you have any Verizon services in your home.