Like it or not, social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace have become a way of life for kids. A Symantec study shows that kids spend nearly 40 hours a month online – twice what their parents think!

As a working mom, you’ve got enough on your mind just keeping track of your kids “real world”  activities. But make no mistake about it, the online world can pose real dangers and requires your attention too.

First, cybercrime is on the rise. Threats increased more than 600 percent over the past several years and  we expect to see 3,000,000 new cyber threats this year – that’s five new threats every minute. Cyber criminals are constantly finding new ways to trick Internet users into giving out personal information like bank account details and social security numbers. Kids are often unwitting prey for these scammers and can compromise the contents of your home computer, such as financial information or personal photos.  

Kids also can find themselves in challenging social situations online. They don’t always understand that what they do online can create a permanent, public record that a college admissions officer or future employer could easily access. I know about this first hand. My 15-year-old daughter once gave her MySpace password to a friend. When they had a falling out, the former friend accessed my daughter’s account and posted some unkind things about her. The former friend then changed the password, which prevented my daughter from removing the content.

The good news is that there are great opportunities for kids online – if they act responsibly. But they need your involvement and guidance to make the right choices. Here are a few tips for getting started:

Establish “house rules.”  Develop a set of rules for how your kids use the Internet. If they want to join a social networking site, make sure they “friend” you. Be sure you know all their passwords and make sure your computer is in a common area of your home (not in their bedroom).

Explain why these rules are in place. Help them understand that since you wouldn't tell a stranger on the street your address, you shouldn't do it online. And giving out passwords to anyone, even friends, can backfire.

Know where they are online.  You keep tabs on your kids in the physical world, so why not do the same online? OnlineFamily.Norton is a free service that lets you monitor your kids online activities through alerts sent to your email or mobile phone. Rather than just blocking certain sites, this service is designed to foster communication between you and your kids when they are breaking the rules.  

If you can't beat ‘em, join ‘em.  Forbidding your kids from joining a social networking site will just drive their online behavior underground. But as an online “friend,” you can actually learn more about them and their interests. For example, by monitoring my daughter’s web searches, I found out she was teaching herself German. When I asked her about this, she said there was a band from Germany that she liked and wanted to understand the lyrics – who knew!

Contributed By Janice Chaffin, Group President, Consumer Business Unit, Symantec

More tips and resources for families are available at https://onlinefamily.norton.com. For more information on the rise in cyber crime and protecting your rights online, please visit everyclickmatters.com.