Net Points Missed by Preteens

Kids overestimate their ability to deal with any situation they might encounter online and they tend to view the Internet as a private rather than a public space. Those are the key findings coming out of a recent study conducted by Microsoft Canada and consumer research firm Ipsos Reid.

The study, which asked kids ages 10 through 14 about their Internet habits, found that 85 percent of kids are able to access the Internet somewhere other than at home and 17 percent of children admit to using the Internet in the middle of the night.

Some other key findings from the study: kids have no qualms about sharing personal information via the Internet (70 percent think that the information they put online and send to friends is private) or making plans to meet an online friend in person (25 percent of kids say they would feel safe meeting up with an online friend if they had been in contact with their online friend for a long time).

To keep your child safe online, develop your own Internet house rules, keep your family computer in a high traffic area of the house so that you will be able to monitor how your child is using the computer, make sure your child understands what types of information he is and isn't allowed to give out online, talk to your child about how to behave online (no sending threatening messages or engaging in any sort of bullying behavior), and encourage your child to come to you if he runs into trouble online.