1.)Show your parents or guardians this web page
on safety, tell them to read the parents/guardians
section.
2.)Talk with your parents/guardians about
setting up limits about the internet such as when
you can be online, how long you can be online, and
what sites you can visit. These rules are set up to
protect your safety online, so please trust your
parents/guardians' judgement and follow their rules.
3.)Always ask your parent or guardian before you
give out any photographs online. Giving out photos
of yourself can be safe, but it can also be very
dangerous, your parents/guardians can help you
decide where and when it is OK to give your
photograph and when you can not give it out.
4.)Tell your parents or guardians right away if
you see something online that makes you feel
uncomfortable, or if someone says anything to you
that makes you feel uncomfortable.
5.)Tell any available adult (whoever is nearby
at the time) immediately if anyone ever asks you for
any personal information, asks you to meet them in
real life, threatens you, or otherwise makes you
feel unsafe. If you do not know the difference
between uncomfortable and unsafe, please scroll down
to that section below.
6.)Remember that everyone has the right to feel
safe and comfortable on the internet. Also remember
that your parents/guardians want to keep you safe on
the internet, so the rules that they make for you
are in order to keep you safe if you break those
rules, you risk your own safety!
DONT's
1.)Never give out personal information online.
This includes any contact information (phone
numbers, addresses) and other specifics or
identifying information (location, school, surname,
parents/guardians' names, etc.).
2.)Never give out any passwords online. This
includes giving a password to a friend! The only
case where it is OK to give a password out, is if
you are giving it to your parents or guardians.
3.)Never agree to meet someone you talk with
online that you don't originally know in real life
without your parents/guardians' permission, and
follow their instructions in the event of a meeting.
4.)Never do anything online that is against the
law or hurts other people. Some examples of illegal
activities online that you should NOT be doing are
downloading music, movies or software you didn't pay
for, using someone else's graphics or writing and
claiming that you made them, or threatening to hurt
other people.
5.)Never talk with someone or give out any
information if it makes you feel uncomfortable. You
have the right to ignore someone online! If someone
is being mean to you or making you feel
uncomfortable do not respond to him or her, instead
tell an adult right away!
Uncomfortable,
or Unsafe?
When you feel upset about
something online, how do you know the difference
between feeling uncomfortable, and feeling unsafe?
Well there is no one right answer, if you aren't
sure the best thing to do is to sign offline and
talk with your parent or guardian right away. Here
are a few examples of uncomfortable situations
versus unsafe situations:
UNCOMFORTABLE
Someone is "mean" or "rude"
to you online, this includes calling names or
swearing
Someone is annoying you with
instant messages, emails, personal messages,
whispers, or other messages.
UNSAFE
Someone asks you personal
questions, such as your full name, where you live,
what school you go to, what your parents/guardians'
names are, etc.
Someone asks you to do things
such as "go out with them," or "be their
boyfriend/girlfriend" or to talk with them about
personal subjects.
Someone makes comments about
your body such as calling you "hot" or "sexy" or
other personal comments that make you feel upset.
Someone shows you pictures or
graphics that are inappropriate and make you feel
upset.
Safety Rules For
Adults (Non-Parents/Guardians)
DO's
1.)Set limits for yourself regarding the
computer ahead of time. Once you get online, for
some people it's very difficult to stop! If you set
a limit such as time spent online, or certain rules
such "I will not do [blank] online" or "I will not
go to such and such website" it can be much easier
to keep yourself safe while you're on the computer!
2.)Make a set of rules for yourself regarding
how and when you give out photos of yourself or
others online. Be cautious when giving out photos or
posting them on websites and/or message boards, and
stick to your personal set of 'rules' regarding
photos. Consider the following variables when
deciding to give out a photo or not: who will be
able to view my photo? Is the website I'm putting my
photo on secure? Do I know the person well that I'm
sending my photo to? If I change my mind about
posting my photo on a website at a later time, will
I be able to easily remove it? Also, remember to
respect the wishes of your friends and family when
you give out photos that they may be in online as
well!
3.)Know how and when you should contact a
webmaster or administrators incase the need should
ever arise! If you want help with contacting someone
from Dollz Mania, please see our Contact section
below! If you need to contact a webmaster for
another website, you must first find a way to
contact them sometimes this is not easily done as
they have not posted contact information (screen
names or email addresses, etc.) anywhere on their
website. If that is the case and your matter is
pressing, I suggest you contact their web host and
explain the situation and ask them to give you
contact information. If the situation is
appropriate, they should respond with the
information, if not, then contact authorities.
4.)Keep yourself safe with personal information
and when meeting online friends! Before you ever
give out any personal information, consider the
following things: how well do I know this person?
How long have I known this person? What type of
contact have I had with this person? Do I trust this
person? Do I feel safe with this person? Also,
remember that it is possible for people to lie about
their own personal information, etc. online in an
attempt to gain your trust! Giving out anything of
this type is your choice, and can be extremely
dangerous, we urge you to use caution in these
matters! When attempting to meet an online friend
follow these simple guidelines: Have a cell phone
with you at all time to call authorities or help if
need be. Stay with a friend or family member at ALL
TIMES during the meeting. Meet in a busy public area
where other people will surround you at all times.
Do NOT go into any small/confined/private/desolate
areas with the person you are meeting. Remember to
follow these rules every time, and not just the
first time you meet each person! If you meet the
same person twice, follow these rules each time!
5.)Remember that everyone has the right to feel
safe and comfortable online.
DONT's
1.)Do not carelessly give out personal
information.
2.)Do not give out passwords to anyone other
than significant others or the like.
3.)Do not meet someone online that you ever have
felt uncomfortable talking with and do not know
well, and always follow the rules in #4 under the
DO's directly above.
4.)Never participate in illegal activities
online. Never link to any sites or associate with
anyone or any other websites that commit crimes on
the internet. It is very dangerous to even be
associated with illegal activities online, some of
the consequences can range from having your computer
banned from websites, to getting your internet
service taken away, to getting your entire computer
taken away, to getting fined or even jailed.
5.)Do NOT talk with anyone online who makes you
feel uncomfortable. Do not do anything online that
you feel is wrong, or that makes you feel
uncomfortable.
Safety Rules for
Parents/Guardians
DO's
1.)Set a good example for your children, and be
a safe and diligent internet user (See our rules for
adults above for more information).
2.)Talk openly about the internet with your
children. If you can have an open discussion about
what everyone in the family does online, it can help
you greatly in both gaining your children's trust as
well as getting an idea of what they actually do on
the computer, and what to look out for on the
computer.
3.)Teach your children about the dangers of the
internet. Be honest with your children about what is
out there, and try to answer as many questions as
you can that they may have about the internet and
how it can be dangerous.
4.)Sit down with your children and discuss a set
of limits for the internet and computer usage.
Remind your children that you are setting limits to
keep them safe because you care about them. Some
aspects you may want to consider in the process of
making a set of rules are time allowed on the
computer, an "allowed websites" list, a "disallowed
websites" list, parental blocks/filters on your
computer, and who it is appropriate for your
children to be able to talk with online.
5.)Make a set of rules regarding posting photos
online. Make sure the entire family follows these
rules, even yourself. Sometimes for children it is
easy to set up a list of sites where they can post
photos of themselves, and they must ask before
posting photos of themselves anywhere else.
6.)Have a talk with your children about illegal
activities on the net. Make sure to keep yourself
informed about illegal activities online, and
discuss the major crimes committed online with your
children. Some examples of crimes you should discuss
are illegally downloading music, graphics, programs,
text, or other files, plagiarism or "stealing" of
both text and graphical form, and if it is
appropriate for your situation also discuss hacking
or cracking programs/computers with your children.
Tell them of the consequences of their actions, both
from you and by authorities if they commit online
crimes.
7.)Have a plan as to what will happen if you or
your child where to ever meet someone in real life
that you first met online. See our Safety Rules for
Adults section in the DO's #4 for more information.
8.)Remember that everyone, including both
yourself and your children, have the right to feel
safe and comfortable online.
DONT'S
1.)Do not yell at your children about the
computer or the internet. Once you start yelling,
they stop listening.
2.)Do not lecture about the internet, much like
yelling it will often make your children stop
listening to you.
3.)Don't "lock-up" or "freeze" if a situation
were to ever arise. If you do not listen to your
children, they are likely to not listen to you! They
may even surprise you with what they have to say, if
given the chance.
4.)Do not over-react! If a situation arises
online the last thing you want to do is panic! When
people panic, they get frantic and make mistakes.
Step back, take a deep breath, and evaluate the
situation; what is the next step? Should you contact
an administrator, or legal authorities (police,
etc.)? What is appropriate for the situation?
Safety Contact
for Dollz Mania
Kidz
Please do not send spam
to our emails! They are for business only, if you
would like to chat please feel free to sign up for
our forums; if you need general help for the site,
please ask on the Help forum! However, if anything
ever happens that you need to contact Dollz Mania
Staff in an uncomfortable or unsafe situation, we
suggest that you also tell your parents/guardians
about the situation before you contact us, if
possible. However, in the case of an emergency (see
our Uncomfortable vs. Unsafe section above) please
do not hesitate to contact our staff! See below for
contact information for both the site and forums.
Parents/Guardians
If you have any questions,
concerns, or general comments about the website or
forums, please feel free to email us. Feedback from
parents is very important to our staff, as we are
striving to make our website and forums as secure
and safe as possible for children (or adults) of any
age. Before you contact staff however, please take a
moment to find out what section of Dollz Mania your
inquiry is regarding; we have more contact
information for our forum leader than we do for our
site leader at the current time. However, the forum
leader is not the site owner, and can not
assist you with problems regarding the main website.
See below for contact information.
Dollz Mania Website
Contact:
For inquiries about any section
of the website, please send emails to
site.dollzmania@gmail.com
Dollz Mania Forums
Contact:
For inquiries specifically
regarding our forums, please contact all
administrative staff at forums.dollzmania@gmail.com
For a real-time response on emergency issues, you
may instant message our Head Administrator for the
forums (Kimberly) at the following business screen
names:
AIM: KimberlyDMF
MSN: kimberlydmf@hotmail.com (please do
not send email to this address!)
