Keep Your Kids Safe on the World Wide Web
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.
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.
I have sad news for you–there is no such perfect solution. There are solutions out there, such as NetNanny, that block any site mentioning one of a list of objectionable words. The result can be funny, such as blocking the word “arm,” and at the same time can drive you nuts if you really want to do regular research on, say, breast cancer.
But programs like this fail when trying to filter objectionable photo sites that have no objectionable words. So, how do I know this? I am sad to say that my teenage son enlightened me. Using Google Images, he searched for objectionable sites and found them, even though the filtering program was on.
In fact, the filter program could never block these sites because it searches for words. It can’t evaluate pictures.
So, how can you protect your child?
*The computer should be where you can monitor what the kidsa re doing. They should be where YOU are.
*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 filtering software. It may help.
*Kids should be told what you expect from them, and the consequences of disobedience.
*Unplug the computer from the Internet if the child is using a word processor or other local program only.
*Give younger kids your own email address to use. This protects them from objectionable spam. Give teens an email address, but instruct them to give it out only to people they know personally.
Following these precautions will help you keep your kids safe, and will teach your teenagers good habits for avoiding temptations.
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