www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070430.wl -
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Published on: 5/1/2007
Last Visited: 5/1/2007
Former OPP officer Rob Nickel with his daughters, eight and 10, in his Cambridge home. J.P. Moczulski/The Globe and MailFormer OPP officer Rob Nickel with his daughters, eight and 10, in his Cambridge home. (J.P. Moczulski/The Globe and Mail)
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Parents need to take steps such as signing up for their own social networking pages so they can participate in their children's world, says Rob Nickel, a former Ontario police officer who has been lecturing professionally on Internet safety since 2004.
"Don't blame MySpace," he says."They have to get more involved with what their kids are doing online."
Mr. Nickel tours the country almost full-time, attending safe-school conventions and teacher conferences.He's also pitching a TV show to educate parents on Internet safety.
Talking to kids is the easy part of his job, as he can show them how information posted on Facebook would allow him to track their location.He says most kids quickly understand the risks.
He encourages parents to Google their kids' names and learn the language of instant messaging in which many young people communicate.
"So if the kid says, ,I was on MSN,' they're not like, ,What the hell is MSN?'" he said.
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If I want to log their chats, I'll log their chats," Mr. Nickel says."I'm not my kid's friend, I'm their parent."