Internet Safety for Your Kids
Are you wondering how to make the Internet safe for your kids? You want them to use the Internet for research, but you don’t want them to find objectionable sites or emails.
Perhaps you’d like to buy a solution that you can use on your computer that will not allow them to look at objectionable sites, yet will allow them to freely browse.
I have to tell you that there is no solution like that. These filter programs, such as NetNanny, look for a list of objectionable words in the site your child has chosen to visit. Simple words such as “leg” can raise the alarm and cause a headache, while regular research on breast cancer might be blocked.
But programs that look for words fail completely if the site has no objectionable words–only objectionable photos. My teenage son figured this out. He used Google Images to look for objectionable sites. He found them despite the fact that our filter, NetNanny, was turned on.
The problem is that filter programs search for individual words. They never look at pictures, and in fact cannot.
The next question is, “What’s a parent to do?”
*Put the computers the kids use where YOU are in your home. Then monitor what they are doing.
*To log on, anyone who is not an adult will have to ask an adult to input the password, giving permission in this way.
*Require the child to log off when he is done. Now the password is required for the next session.
*Use NetNanny or a similar filter. It can only help.
*Kids should be told what you expect from them, and the consequences of disobedience.
*Unplug the Internet cables if the child doens’t need to access the Internet for his task.
*Require younger children to use your email address. This will allow you to protect them from vicious spam. As they get older, give teens their own email address, but make sure they give it out only to friends.
Following these precautions will help you keep your kids safe, and will teach your teenagers good habits for avoiding temptations.
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August 8th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
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