Just as there can be risks in the community where you live, participating in the Yahoo! Answers community may present certain risks to users, particularly children and young people. Yahoo! has incorporated a number of safety features within Yahoo! Answers. Parents and guardians have an important role to play in teaching and advising children and young people to use the service safely and smartly.

To get you started, learn about some general practices for online safety. In addition to this general advice, keep in mind these issues when you or a child you care for are using Yahoo! Answers:

* Protecting personal information. 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. Yahoo! Answers profile settings can be modified to limit contact with these unknown users. Children under 13 are not permitted to ask or answer questions on Yahoo! Answers.

* Harassment. If users are able to contact you, someone may behave badly and use unpleasant, sexually suggestive, or abusive language. Again, be aware that Yahoo! Answers profiles can be set to limit email and instant messaging contact with other users.

* Mature content. Yahoo! Answers' Community Guidelines forbids profane, obscene, vulgar, or sexually explicit language. If such inappropriate language ever appears in a question or answers, Yahoo! encourages users to report abuse.

So what can you do to limit your child’s risk?

• Review Yahoo! Answers safety features.
• Learn how to report abuse.