Just as there are risks in the community where you live, participating in the Yahoo! Answers community may present certain risks to children and teenagers. In the same way you would look out for your child’s well-being on a daily basis in the real world, their well-being in the online world deserves your attention.
Yahoo! Answers users are expected to behave in ways that foster community, not harm it. The Answers Community Guidelines outlines these expectations. Users must agree to abide by the community guidelines before using Yahoo! Answers. Users also agree to the Yahoo! Terms of Service when registering for a Yahoo! ID.
Yahoo! incorporates a number of safety features within Yahoo! Answers that when taken advantage of can limit risk, but parents and caregivers are expected to take an active role in protecting their children’s online safety.
It’s important to familiarize yourself with general practices for online safety for you and your child. In particular, when your child is using Yahoo! Answers please keep this general advice in mind:
Protecting personal information: Children under the age of 13 are not permitted to ask or answer questions on Yahoo! Answers. Younger users of Yahoo! Answers, especially those between the ages of 13 and 17, should be reminded that posting personal information in their questions or answers, no matter how harmless it might seem, could identify them to strangers.
Using nicknames and profile settings to restrict sharing and contact access in Yahoo! Answers can limit contact from unknown users. See more information about selecting appropriate Yahoo! Answers nicknames and profile settings.
Harassment: If users are able to contact your child, he or she might be exposed to unpleasant, sexually suggestive, or abusive language. Your child’s Yahoo! Answers profile settings can be set to limit email and instant messaging contact with other users.
Mature content: Yahoo! Answers’ Community Guidelines forbid profane, obscene, vulgar, or sexually explicit language. If inappropriate language appears in questions or answers, Yahoo! encourages you or your child to report abuse.
So what can you do to limit your child’s risk?