The Internet is unimaginably rich in information and resources. Unfortunately, some of the information people post is designed to cultivate hate or spread misinformation.

You can help your kids develop critical-thinking skills to judge the accuracy of online information.

Before your children start to explore the Internet, it's a good idea to make sure everyone understands what they should and shouldn't be doing online. One idea is to sit down together and draw up a family code of conduct for all to agree on. You can create a different contract for each child in your family with Internet usage rules set appropriately by age.

These days, many kids draw little distinction between real life and online life. They may use social Web sites designed for children such as Webkinz or Club Penguin, or social Web sites designed for adults such as Windows Live Spaces, YouTube, MySpace, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, and others. Whatever they're doing, they should understand that many of these Web pages can be viewed by anyone with access to the Internet.