US-CERT ST05-002 -- Keeping Children Safe Online

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST05-002.html

If your son or daughter (even though the sexist article only refers to daughters,) is old enough to be using a computer, he or she should know more about that computer that you. Before you bore me with a story about how you "know computers" inside and out because you have been using MS Word since the 3rd version, let me explain how 1) you are wrong and 2) I am right. The foundation of my computer experience began around the time of Windows 3.0 (and various DOS versions of that time). So, I have since been building on that foundation, just as O/S's build upon themselves. The beginning foundations of your child's computer knowledge will be one of the top floors, if you will, of your computer knowledge. For example (at the time of this writing), your child's foundation will be Windows XP (or equivalent O/S). In a way, they will be starting where you are leaving off. To an extent, they will be mastering your learned techniques or previous O/S's simply by interacting with XP and performing other semi-advanced tasks.

Crispy