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For Parents
If your child is interested in horses, you've come to the right place. horse-country.com is a child safe site with hours of educational fun.
Mail list participation is moderated so discussion remains appropriate for all ages. Which is not to imply good debate is missing.
What your child will find here is an international community with a common love for all things equestrian and an interest in digging into a topic down to the facts.
Despite TV, radio and newspapers scare reports (they are competing for your time after-all) the Web is a rich environment. Once you have the tools to help your child explore this wonderful resource called the internet, I'd like to ask you to make sure the net is safe from your child.
Manners are as essential on the internet as anywhere else. horse-country.com has been online since 1995 and I've gotten email that would curl your toes.
I will report to the originating ISP (internet service provider) any violations of service.
Fortunately those cases are rare. Of the hundreds of thousands of kids and parents I've interacted with, most are extraordinary. Riding is a healthy sport and a good opportunity to fine tune partnership, responsibility and competitive instincts.
If you're new to the internet, the following net tips are especially for you.
Searching the Web
Google is your friend. You can search keywords covering everything from urban legends (those chain letter emails from net novice friends and family urging you to action on some issue)
to phishing scams (a link in an email wants your credit card details), to virus and worm solutions (sites like symantec.com offer free security checks)
to technical questions about your computer and software.
Just searching the phrase: books on internet safety -- I found a printable Google beta edition of A Teacher's Guide to Using Technology in the Classroom! It's a smart read.
Your local bookstore and library are other great resources.
So is http://www.netmom.com/ Jean Armour Polly is Net-momŽ and the author of six editions of Net-mom's Internet Kids & Family Yellow Pages (Osborne McGraw-Hill), a family-friendly directory to 3,500 of the best children's resources the Internet has to offer. horse-country.com has been featured in every edition.
Privacy
Never give out personal or account information online or over the phone unless you have initiated the contact and are certain business URL is real. Treat all email you write as if it might be read by your entire neighborhood.
Install and Use Anti-Virus Programs
Up-to-date anti-virus programs
protect your computer against most viruses, worms, Trojans and other
unwanted invaders that can infect your computer. Sad to say,
Internet Explorer and Outlook Express are very vulnerable to attack, not
because spammers hate Microsoft, but because the software fixes may not be current. Or use more secure browsers until these problems are
eliminated entirely. Mozilla, Foxfire, Omniweb, Safari are sturdy.
E-mail Scams:
All Internet users should be aware of the online scam known as "phishing" (pronounced "fishing"). Phishing involves the use of e-mail messages that appear to come from your bank or another trusted business, but are actually from impostors.
Phishing e-mails typically ask you to click a link to visit a Web site, where you're asked to enter or confirm personal financial information such as your account numbers, passwords, Social Security number or other data.
Your real bank probably has a warning online about this; they would never contact you in this way.
Up-to-Date Backups
I can't stress enough how important it is for you to backup your computer and files. Especially folders with kids homework!
Best, cheapest dial up service
http://www.thelist.com/
or http://www.myispfinder.org/ can help you comparison shop.
Links that take you around the web
Certain Resource for Rider links may take you off horse-country.com web site. While we make every effort to keep current,
HC is not responsible for the content or reliability on outside Web sites. Please! Contact HC if you think
one of our links has become inappropriate.
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