Make the Internet Safe for Your Kids

If you have watched the news recently at all, you have more than likely heard the horror stories about children using the Internet that seems to have permeated all the news broadcasts in recent months. If you have been anything like me, I have been tempted to cut off my children's access to the Internet, but if I did that then they would have been at a disadvantage in school. This has left me in a bit of a quandary. How to let my children use the Internet, and actually be a part of the twenty-first century, and how do I protect them from the dangers of the real world as long as I possibly can?

Luckily, there are a few things that a parent can do to protect their children, and to limit the dangers that they may face. Simply use these simple safety measures, and the threat level to your children is going to be greatly reduced.

• Establish ground rules. Ground rules for use of the computer should be established and implemented as early as possible. These rules should cover such things as length of time online, appropriate content to search, what to do when inappropriate content is encountered, establishing "online friends," and more. These rules should be enforced both at home, as well as when away from home.
• Use filters. Filters can be used on just about every aspect of Internet use. Check into applying a filter on the email, search engines, and web browsers. While such filters can limit the content that comes into your home's system, no filter can completely keep out questionable content. Commercial filters can be purchased to help limit the content that comes across your computer.
• Properly use search engines. Considering that completely innocent words can be used to find inappropriate materials, teach your children to be careful about what they are doing. I remember one time trying to find the web address for the White House, and not knowing the difference between .com, .org and .gov. Because of this, I ended up going somewhere that I was not intending, and becoming very embarrassed when one of the school's administrators wandered by.
• Monitor the computer's activity. Learn how to check the browser's history, and cookies that is left on an online account, hard drive or stored offline. One suggestion would be to have your children's accounts mirrored onto yours. That way you can see exactly what they are doing, and who they are doing it with. While your kids might get upset because they think you are not trusting them, simply tell them (if it comes up) that it is not them that you don't trust, but the rest of the world. Keep in mind that you are their parent, not necessarily their friend.
• Keep computers in an open area. By keeping your computer in an open and easily accessible area you are going to limit the chances of inappropriate behavior that can lead to trouble. If there is no "expectation of privacy" then your children are going to be less likely to misbehave.
• Create separate accounts for all computer users. If you are worried about unwanted files or content being downloaded onto your computer, then simply set up separate accounts on your computer for each user. You can set each account up with different levels of allowed activity, which will limit what, or even if anything can be downloaded.
• Advocate change on behalf of your children. If you find anything that is questionable, and you really want to do something about it, why not contact your Internet provider. They may be able to limit the access of such material on their service. Not only that, if they do not currently have any usable filter in place already, then this may help prod them into creating one for their customers.