According to a study by the Nielsen Norman Group, children as young as 9 years old are becoming just as capable — if not more so — than their parents at navigating the Internet. While young children may be computer whizzes, they do not have their parent’s experience and judgment when it comes to identifying online threats, including predators and fraud.

“It is no longer an option, but a necessity for parents to know what their children are doing when they are online, and to teach them to identify risks,” according to Connecticut BBB President, Paulette Scarpetti. “The single most important thing a parent can do is keep the lines of communication open and discuss possible dangers they may encounter on the Internet.”

Sit down with your children and let them know that they should stop and come talk to you whenever they find themselves in any of these seven situations online:

1. A website asks for financial information, such as bank, credit or debit card numbers: Some websites may try to get at your wallet through your children. Let them know that it is never acceptable to give out these numbers to anyone.

2. A website asks for personal information like home address, first and last name, e-mail address, phone or Social Security number: Your children likely do not realize that information such as their full name, Social Security number, address, phone number or even their e-mail address can be very valuable to identity thieves, predators and companies that want to market products to them.

3. A stranger sends inappropriate pictures, uses inappropriate language, or wants to meet up: Talk to your children about what would constitute inappropriate photos and conversations, as well as the potentially life-threatening dangers of meeting up with or talking to strangers.

4. Posting photos online: Posting pictures on a social networking site may seem harmless, but it can often provide predators with important clues that jeopardize the family’s safety. Approve any photos before your child posts them online until you feel they are old enough to make the right call.

5. Your child is being harassed or bullied on a social networking site, in e-mails, or instant messages: Online bullying is not just a harmless prank and your children need to know that it is important they tell you before it goes too far.

6. Your child receives a friend request on a social networking site from someone neither they nor you know: Friending someone online that you do not know in real life is opening the door to many possible threats such as hackers and predators.

7. Offers to sign up for a “free” service online or get “free” ringtones or daily joke text messages: “Free” rarely comes without a price online and supposedly “free” services can result in repeated charges to your credit card or phone bill.

For more than 35 years, the BBB Children’s Advertising Review Unit has promoted responsible children’s advertising by evaluating child-directed ads and promotional material in all media, to advance truthfulness, accuracy, and consistency. CARU scrutinizes more than 10,000 television commercials, and reviews of advertisements in print, radio, and online media.

Parents can report websites that request personally identifiable information from children under 13 at www.caru.org, or link to CARU Parent’s Corner directly at www.caru.org/program/parentscorner.aspx/.