The internet is a pretty big place. Today children use it to get information for classes, play games, chat with friends, and send e-mails. Every parent has that fear of an adult posing as a child online with an avatar who then target your child. There’s also the fear of your child giving out personal information. So how and why should you monitor your children’s internet use? Well, here are a couple of reasons.
Personal Information
Children are young, and when first using the internet they may not be aware of what’s okay to post online and what isn’t. You want to make sure no personal information such as where you live, the school your child attends, or any personal picture are posted online. Teach your child the do’s and don’ts of online internet usage. Especially sites like Facebook or MySpace where a lot of personal information is usually share. Also tell them to be wary when playing games where your child as their own online avatar and that is all the internet community can see.
Don’t Hide You’re Monitoring
This may seem counter-intuitive, but don’t hide your monitoring. Bring your children in on what you’re doing. If you happen to find something on their phone or the computer that concerns you then present them with they will most likely distrust you. From then on your children will probably make better attempts to hide stuff from you feeling there was a breach in trust. If they ask, tell them the reasons why you’re doing it. There are programs out there that can also be installed on your PC to block out adult websites. Remember those annoying pop-ups and how they sometimes have questionable images? Yeah, that’s the kind of stuff you want to avoid your child seeing.
They May Be Looking at Age Inappropriate Material
For all around safety most computers usually have parental controls. See if your computer has any so you can better limit what it is your child is looking at online. While for the most part if children are just looking at videos of youtube they may stumble across something very graphic. These controls can help you to monitor your children and provide a net of safety for when you’re not around. Also outline what websites are safe for your child to visit.
Of course, none of this is full proof. The best way to still monitor your children is to have an open line of communication between the both of you. Be clear about what it is you’re worried about. Your child may not be very happy with this at first, but check out the websites they use frequently. If they’re safe let your child know they can still do what they like on the internet. Just that you’re making sure nothing slips through the cracks to pop up on the page they shouldn’t have seen. It’s not a perfect system, but with plenty of trust it can work.
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