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Internet Safety for Your Kids

by: PhyllisWheeler
Total views: 9 | Word Count: 356

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.

Maybe you are hoping to buy a program for your computer that blocks objectionable sites, but will allow them to do the research you want them to do.

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.

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?"

*The computer should be where you can monitor what the kidsa re doing. They should be where YOU are.

*Have a login password that only the adults know. The kid has to have permission, and oversight, to use the computer.

*Ensure that the kid logs off when the computer session is over, or turns the computer off. This makes the password 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.

*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.

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.

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About the Author

Phyllis Wheeler, the Computer Lady, offers this advice for mothers and fathers.. She also provides homeschool computer courses via MotherboardBooks.com, which has provided do-it-yourself computer skills and programming courses for kids and teens since 2003.  

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FollowText.com » Computers » Internet Safety for Your Kids

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