Now that kids are growing up with the internet available to them kids are starting to show interest at a younger age. Even my son who is younger than 10 wants to go onto websites that will allow him to play games while chatting with his friends. As a parent that concerns me. The people he is talking to may be there to cause harm. Also whatever your son or daughter does online you are liable under the law for. So what does a parent do? We all are not computer savvy. Here are some tips to help you parent your kids on the web.
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Like in any activity it is best you know what your kid is doing and the computer is no exception. Sit down with your child and watch what he or she is doing. Get your kid to explain what is going on. On your own time, do some research for yourself. There may be some things that your kid either forgot to mention or doesn't know about.
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Keep in View
I am completely against kids having a computer in their room for two reasons. Keeping your computer in a high traffic area will encourage your kid not to hide and spend time with the family. Second, you are more available to spot trouble that your kid may not know he or she is in.
Talk to Your Kid
Have a conversation with your kid what your expectations are. Advise them that the rules on the internet are the same as in your home. Let's be honest. Everyone (including children) are a little more brave on the internet.
Monitor and Block
Everyone should have monitoring and blocking software on their computers to reduce the potential of bad content coming in. All it takes is misspelling a word and your child may end up at an adult site. There are great software packages out there that will monitor every website your browser goes to and blocks the bad sites. I recommend K9 Web Protection. It is easy to setup and use. It will have everything you need and even has more features than Windows Vista's Family Safety software. You can get K9 for free at http://www1.k9webprotection.com/
Social Networking
Many teens are using Facebook and Myspace to communicate with their friends. There is so much that these sites are good for but a teen can get in a whole lot of trouble in these sites as well. It would be unrealistic to expect you're teen to stay off as he or she would just go to a friend's house to access those sites. I recommend being a frequent reader of your teen's profile. Know what's going on. You can even approach your teen asking if you can be their friend on the site.
With all these tips you will have the situation under control. There is a little bit of learning involved to the whole process. Look at it this way. You have the opportunity to learn while protecting your kids. It's a win, win situation. For a whole lot more information visit http://safekids.com/