Internet Safety for Your Kids
July 16, 2008 Category: Internet Safety No Comments »
Here’s the issue: how to be sure your kids are safe from viewing objectionable sites when they are searching the Internet. After all, you don’t want them to stumble across something they should not see.
I bet you would like to find a program you could buy that you could install on your computer to block objectionable content, but permit research.
Here’s the bad news: filtering programs can’t do the job by themselves. NentNanny and other applications like it search for certain words in the Web site your child is clicking on. Simple words like “belly” can be targets for blocking, causing frustration, while research on “breast cancer” may be impossible.
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.
In fact, the filter program could never block these sites because it searches for words. It can’t evaluate pictures.
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.
*Only the adults should know the login password. The kids will have to have permission to get on.
*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.
*If a child is just using a word processor or some other local program, disconnect the Internet cable.
*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.
Your watchfulness will pay off. Your children will be protected from what they should not see, and they will also learn good habits for using the Internet as adults.