You teach your kids the basics of driving a vehicle before you let them out on the road, right? What about the "Information Super Highway"? How should you prepare your child before you allow them out on the Internet?

Before you let them drive a car, you, as a parent, should make sure that vehicle is safe. You should do the same thing for whatever device they access the Internet with, Make sure you have:

• Applied all Security Patches (OS, browser, etc)
• Updated Antivirus and other Antimalware
• Enabled Parental Controls (Content Filtered DNS, Browser Limits, etc)

Once you've made your best effort to secure their internet browsing vehicle. You need to explain the rules of the road. Here are the basics that you want to be sure to cover, feel free to add your own specific rules:

1. Don't Chat With Strangers

You need to let your kids know that there are dangerous people out there that may try to seek them out and talk with them. Make sure they understand that people on the Internet can pretend to be whomever they want to be, and that they may not be who they say they are, Depending on their age, you may want to teach them about Catfishers, Scammers, Phishers, and other types of Internet bad guys that may be lurking out there.

2. Don't Post Stupid Stuff

Kids love to express themselves, Whether through writing, art, taking pictures, etc.  The problem is, the Internet is forever. If they post something stupid, whether its a video of them doing some stupid stunt or something completely innocent like singing a song.

The Trolls of the Internet could twist it around, make it go viral and then it could follow them around for the rest of their lives. It might even be too much for a potential employer to overlook.

Have them ask themselves the question: "Is this going to embarrass me or others?" If the answer is yes, then they should probably refrain from posting it. Make sure they also know the Dangers of Oversharing.

3. Don't Reveal Personal Information

Make sure your kids know that they should never provide their physical location to anyone online, period. You should also consider having them disable the location-sharing features of their phones and apps. A Geotag contained within the metadata of pictures that they take can give away their exact location.

4. Don't Cyberbully And if They Get Bullied, Tell Someone

Many parents may be familiar with traditional bullying but may not think about cyberbullying as being a serious problem, but it is, and it can have serious consequences for both victim and perpetrator. Make sure your kids understand what cyberbullying is and why they shouldn't take part in it.  Also make sure they know what to do if it happens to them or someone they know.

5. Don't Steal Copyrighted Content or Post it For Others

Pirated music and movies are even easier to obtain than ever before. Your kids need to understand that intellectual property is property, even though it's made of ones and zeros. They need to understand that stealing this property is no different than stealing it from a store and that there are similar consequences.

They should neither take it nor provide it on a file share for others to take, both of these acts can get them and you (as their parent) in legal trouble.

Trust but verify

Kids are kids and sometimes their curiosity will get the better of them. Review their history from time to time to see where they are visiting. If you find large gaps in their browsing history it may be a sign that they are covering their tracks by using the "private browsing" feature of their web browser. Consider using activity logging on your router and review its logs instead of trusting the ones from their browser.