Kids on Computers
The biggest nightmare on the Internet has got to be kids online
safety or the unprotected kids while they are on the computer. This
information is geared toward kids and parents, but employers should
keep thier eyes open because these kids are or will be in your workforce.
One of the biggest nightmares that I encounter is when I ask somebody
what their kids do on the computer and they say, "I have no
idea but they spend a lot of time on the Internet", or something
to that affect. This is scary. There are many warning
signs that may mean your child is having a problem with Internet
safety.
Children that spend countless hours on the Internet could
be a threat to our whole society. Here is a story
to read that will hopefully open some parents' eyes. There are
way too many Internet predators online to not address the subject
of Internet safety. I recently recieved an interesting Email you can
read here. Here is a contract that you can print out to have your kids sign before they go on
the Internet to steer them in the right Internet safety direction.
Parents need to train their children on the proper use of a computer
connected to the Internet. If you don't have the time to train your
kids the proper online safety basics, then perhaps they shouldn't
have one (a computer that is). It's not an electronic babysitter.
The computer is a tool, and like any other tool, if you use it improperly
it can hurt you. Would you say it's okay for a parent to give a
6 year old a chainsaw and tell him to go out and play? Then why
would you give an unsupervised child a tool that could potentially
harm his mental or spiritual health, ruin your good standing in
the community, or wipe out your finances? Now that's scary.
Keep in mind that there are certain places where kids should not
be unsupervised; bars, nightclubs, construction zones, the middle
of a busy superhighway and the middle of the busy Internet. Don't
let the Internet become a nightmare. Spend time with your child
online. Put the computer in a place that can be easily accessed
by the entire family. Have your family use a friendly search
page that will filter out unwanted material. Use the Internet
with your child to play games, plan for a family vacation, or learn
about new places and people. Ask your child to teach you more about
the computer and to show you certain tricks he or she may have learned.
Not only will you gain computer knowledge, you will also get valuable
information on just how much your child knows about the computer.
Make sure to ask your child what he or she likes on the Internet
and to show you favorite sites. Talk about Internet safety and the
danger of chatting with Internet Predators.
There are too many questionable sites on the Internet with questionable
tactics to draw kids and adults alike to their sites. Not to mention
the Internet predators grooming the kids in the online chat rooms.
Parents need to know what their kids are doing online. The best way
would be to sit with them and be interested in what they are doing
but that is not always possible. The computer should always be out
in the open, like in a dining room or somewhere you can see it,
that is not always possible either. You can always check their history to see what Web Sites they have visited but that does not tell you
what they have chatted or emailed. However, there is a lot of good
computer monitoring software out there
to find out what is being done on a computer.
Ideally, all parents should know how to monitor their children's
Internet usage, but they often have no idea how to do so. Parents
are also dangerously unaware of what their children are actually
doing online. WebWatcher lets you monitor your child's computer and Internet use from anywhere. Parental control software is made easy with WebWatcher. You do not have to be at home to monitor your child's computer activities - you can watch them from anywhere!
The web-based monitoring lets you remotely monitor Internet use from any computer in the world with a standard web browser. And best of all, your data is 100% secure because WebWatcher uses state-of-the-art 128-bit encryption to protect your information. The cost of most computer monitoring software is usually less than a hundred dollars. How much is your kids safety worth?
If you don't feel comfortable installing software, there is also
keystroke loggers that can do the same thing. They simply plug into
the plug that the keyboard plugs in. Check one out here
If after you have installed some monitoring programs you find that
your child is a victim of some sort of child sexual exploitation
or Internet predator, you can file a report at the The
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Lets all
help keep the kids safe on the Internet.
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