Is it time to have the talk with your child? And we don’t mean the one about where babies come from. We mean the talk about computer safety.

The start of a new school year is as good a time as any to make sure that your child or grandchild understands that computers are great but the internet can also be a dangerous place for kids. (Heck, it can be a dangerous place for adults, too.)

The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) has some excellent advice for parents about computers and cell phones for back-to-school children of all ages. Here are some suggestions:

1. Activate parental controls. This can be done from the control panel on the windows-based system.

Before doing this, make sure you have set up an account on the computer for your child. Open “start > settings;” then click “accounts,” select “family & other people,” and select “add a family member.” Finally, select “add a child.”

To activate parental controls, open the control panel, click “parental controls” to set up the controls for your child’s account. Click “on, enforce current settings.” Turn on activity reporting. Then, if you wish, select options such as web filtering, time limit and apps limitations.

Make sure that your own account on the computer is password protected so that parental controls can’t be changed without your knowledge.

2. Do have a talk with your child about using computers and what information should not be shared with anyone. Make sure the child understands that social media sites are particularly risky.

3. Keep the family computer in a spot where everyone can see who is using it and for what purpose and monitor your child’s use.

4.  Set boundaries for your child about using the computer. Let them know when, where, why and how they may use the computer. Limit or prohibit chat rooms.

5. Ask your service provider if it offers other features and services to protect young users.

6. Be sure to enable all security settings.

7.  Don’t ignore the possible risk from cell phones and make sure that your child understands what information should and shouldn’t be shared via phone.

8. The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) provides a list of free checks for online security. These can be found at: https://staysafeonline.org/stay-safe-online/free-online-security-checkups-tools/

Here’s to a safe and happy new school year!

Jane Carpenter is a member of the FBI InfraGard organization and author of identity theft reference materials used by law enforcement in the U.S.