Being a parent today is much different than it has been in generations past. Even though the Internet has been in homes for nearly 20 years, it has just been within the past 5 to 10 years that teenagers and children have had routine use of the Internet.
If you are beginning to feel like your children know more about the online world than you do, it's no wonder that you're concerned about keeping them safe. There are many steps that you can take to protect your children and to direct their online behavior so they present themselves correctly. Here are five important places to start.
1. The first step you should take is to ban computers from your children's bedrooms. The entire family should use a common desktop computer that is in a well-trafficked area in the house. Keeping the computer (and your children) in sight will help minimize where they visit online and what type of activities they can take part in. Limiting their computer time is also a good way to keep them safe. A child that is on for an hour per day, rather than four or six, can get in a lot less trouble.
2. Set some ground rules with your children for their Internet use. For example, many parents allow their children to have their own e-mail address but only if the parents have the passwords. When you use the computer you can double check that this rule is being followed by checking the history and making sure no unauthorized email addresses are being used.
3. One of the most popular sites these days is Myspace. Myspace is a social networking community that brings people together from all walks of life. It's also become a popular place for teens and preteens to meet one another and bond after school. You can make sure your children are staying safe by building their Myspace account with them. This way, you know the password and you can check in on the account from time to time. Make sure that you communicate to them the importance of limiting their communication to friends only. There are many spam programs that will ask to be your child's friend, and then expose them to inappropriate material. If your children only accept friend requests from people that they know in real life, this cuts down on their exposure.
4. Make sure that your attempts to keep them safe aren't all punitive. You can prevent a lot of problems by getting involved in your child's online life. Visit websites together and let them show you where they like to "hang out" online. Encourage them to tell you about their online friends and how they spend their time online. If you are a part of their world, you'll know exactly what they've been up to and whether they are following your ground rules or not.
5. If you need to, you can take your level of parental protection to the next level with a professional monitoring software that will tell you just exactly where they have been. This type of software can also limit their usage to specific sites. This can be very helpful if your child is young.
Protecting your child online is easy if you involve yourself in what they are doing from the start. Interacting with your child and the Internet in a friendly way when they are 10 is a lot easier than cracking down on bad online usage when they are 16. Just like with all other parenting areas, it's better to try to prevent problems first.
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