A Parent’s Guide To Online Safety
In my last post about it being time to be a parent when it comes to web safety, I mentioned I’d continue with steps you can take to protect your children while online.
1. Take the computer out of the kid’s room. What I find particularly frightening is that parents tend to do things that make them popular with their kids, not necessarily what’s safe for them. It’s almost like they’re trying to be their friend more than their parent. For example, they buy their kid a laptop or desktop and take no steps to set ground rules or follow up on agreements to not visit inappropriate websites.
Computers are a necessity in the world we live in, so not giving them a computer I think is too extreme in most cases. However, you can have them use it in an open area of your home. “But mom, I feel like you’re not giving me any privacy!” is what they’ll say, to which you reply, “When it comes to how you use the computer, you’re right. Take it or leave it and by the way, I love you.”
Harsh? Well, that depends on how soft a parent has been, so there may be a bumpy transition. But ultimately, a parent who cares about their children will no doubt want to know where they go outside of the home. Going online is no different.
2. Install a web filter. Tons of choices exists. Some good, some not so good, so you should spend a little time reviewing what others have said and decide which one is best for you. (I’ll be posting more about some choices you might consider later.)
3. Explain to your child what’s acceptable and what’s not. It’s not enough to tell them “Don’t go anywhere online that’s not good.” That leaves the door wide open for interpretation. What’s good? Social networks like MySpace for example, can be a good thing, but if used inappropriately, then trouble can happen. Sites of girls posing in bikinis may seem harmless, but could ultimately lead to other sites that are more provocative and then can lead to porn. Gambling sites are another danger zone.
4. Set timing restrictions. It’s one thing if a kid is online doing homework for hours. It’s an entirely different thing if they’re just online for hours aimlessly browsing. Personally, I’m guilty of this one as I do go online a lot keeping up my various blogs. Even so, I should still make time to be offline with the living and get some exercise. So even if a kid is online doing nothing harmless, it’s still a good thing, both mentally and physically, to have some time not hooked up to the web.
These are some of the main points that parents tend to overlook when it comes to their children being online. By no means is it conclusive, but starting with these can provide the foundation for safer and more beneficial web experience. Kids are naturally curious and that’s good, but if left to their own devices — without parental supervision — then that curiosity can lead them in the wrong direction.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
Hi I’m Laura a SAHM and my kids are growing fast in less than a year they have to know how to use computers and internet.
And it really scares me that they can be more open for bad contents of the internet.
This tips are great. It is very helpful for me….
Thanks and have a great day
Thats some useful and informative article you have written ken, its an eye opener for the parents. I think if they follow this guidelines then surely they can relax tht their children are safe from the bad contents of internet.
Have you heard of Covenant Eyes monitoring and filtering programs? It is a unique program on the market because it gives the user flexibility to filter or simply monitor the Internet or both. A good filtering program is very helpful for children and families, but a good monitoring program is great for adults and children alike who want to be accountable to others about where they go online.
Covenant Eyes monitoring program simply tracks (without blocking) everywhere someone goes online. Then each part of each Web page is rated and scored for its content (scores are based on obscene material). Users choose 2 or 3 people that they want to receive a detailed “accountability report” of all their online activity (emails to them or available to see online 24/7). What this does is it allows complete freedom to the person using the Internet, but it takes away the anonymity of online activity; people are more likely to exorcise self-control when they know that others will be reviewing their whereabouts online.
Our filter is like other Internet filters and it is very robust. You can set filtering to different settings including sites you want to specifically allow or deny, and times of day you want the Internet to be accessed or not accessed. We also have a rigorous scoring system that is constantly updated. It is true that no filter is perfect, but there are some filters better than others.
Covenant Eyes also has a promotional code you can use to get a free month to try out their accountability service. Go to http://www.covenanteyes.com and enter promocode ‘onefree’ to receive a free 30 day trial of the program.