10 Things Parents Can Do To Keep Their Kids Safe Online

Communication is Key

Of primary importance, parents need to establish good lines of communication with their children. This can not only provide a good foundation for the relationship, but establish the trust and understanding, which is especially important when trying to explain the importance of their safety online. When discussing, parents should make their children feel at ease and let them know that is safe to speak their thoughts as well as listen. These simple actions are some of the cornerstones of a solid relationship with good communication. A child that feels they can tell anything to their parent will likely have a parent that worries a lot less.

Set Boundaries And Limits

Limits for children are nothing new and limits on the computer should be no different. It helps to set expectations so it's clear what is allowed and what isn't. Set how much time they can have on the computer and under what conditions. A good plan is to give the child options of what is allowed, what isn't and the consequences if the agreement is broken. Let them choose and they can post a schedule of what is agreed on. They will feel good about being involved in the process and having them make and post a schedule will leave no room form misunderstandings and renegotiations later on.

Be Consistent

Consistency is a common theme in parenting and it's no less beneficial here. Parents need to keep the communication open and allow a child to express themselves with out worry or fear. Once that is established, it's imperative that it remain unchanged, so a child won't get a mixed message about how freely they can communicate. Consistency also needs to apply to the agreed upon limits on both sides. Parents who make exceptions and don't stick to the agreed upon rules will undermine not only the agreement, but also will change how the child will feel about future agreements.

Take an Interest

Spend some time talking with your child about what they are doing online and what their online interests are. They might not feel comfortable with a parent over their shoulder while they are talking to their friends on instant messenger, but maybe they will share what their favorite online game is, some interests or other places they like to spend their time. It is no different that asking what book they are reading, how school was or what program they are watching and will keep the conversation going and stop their internet time from being an information blackout.

Learn more about your computer

Learn your way around the computer and know how it records pages visited in history as well as cookies that are left when websites are visited. Many sites that use flash leave different cookies that are very hard to erase and will show up in a scan, even if the other standard cookies are deleted. If the history is deleted, as well as the cookies, then it might be time to amended the agreement that no history is to be erased or cookies deleted. Begin upfront with your child and letting them know that you will check the computer from time to time is a good policy. A final note, some browsers come with privacy settings that can be turned on, which causes them to no longer accept cookies or record history!

Share your online time

Parents can share what they do online and show their kids how they use the internet themselves, for work or for other interests. This can present opportunities to keep the conversation going and parents can explain to the kids how they pay bills, do their jobs or discover the family tree. This sharing can also lead to parents and children sharing what they do online and parents might get to try their hand at their kids favorite game and more, opening up some of what they do on the internet. This isn't about gaining your child's trust to spy on them, but to foster an openness about using the internet.

Understand the language

It seems each of the latest online craze has it's own words and language. If a parent hears that their child is 'tweeting' or getting a 'torrent' and they don't know what that means, it's best to find out on your own if it is something you need to be concerned about. Many popular services become part of the lexicon, so today we can Facebook someone and Google them as well. The acronyms that kids will use in email, text and instant messaging are often cryptic, but the most common are LOL(laugh out loud), IRL (in real life), BRB (Be right back). When you oversee your child's internet usage, make sure you know the meaning of the language being used. If you don't, a quick search can yield a dictionary of many terms. http://www.netlingo.com/top50/index.php

Get Professional Help

In most situations, using some of the top products for parental control, a parents job of allowing their children to use the internet but keeping them away from undesirable sites is made much easier. The best parental control software all have some great features, like the Norton Family Online's (onlinefamilyinfo.norton.com) chat control which allows them only to chat with approved people. One of the features parents have really loved is from littleye is their parental control center that allows parents to not just monitor what their kids are doing from a remote computer or iPhone, but they can interact as well, allowing or disallowing requests, even an internet "off" switch. In families with more children, using software is strongly advised.

Watch For Behavioral Changes

If your child's behavior changes, such as a change in sleeping habit, loss of appetite or falling behind in school can be signs of many situations. However, be aware if they are hiding their internet usage or suddenly not using the computer or the opposite, trying to use it every chance they get, it's time to discuss and find out what is going on. Having already established a good foundation with your child can come in handy in such a situation, making it easier in getting them to open up and to the root of the issue. Cyberbullying is sadly quite common and these behavioral changes can be the result.

Turn it off

When a parent notices that their child is stretching or ignoring the agreed upon rules and reminding them of the agreement doesn't improve the situation, consider simply turning the access completely off for a period of time. Working parents see this more often and given that they often cannot be present to monitor their kids online, they simply turn the access off for a period of time. There are a number of ways to do this, such as password protecting access to the computer or a little more technical, the router. Some parents have resorted to simpler, if not more extreme methods, such as taking the power cord to the modem or even the modem itself to restrict access.

By: Clayton Steffan

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Clayton Steffan writes on technology, software and parenting issues. He lives in Arlington, VA and is married with 2 daughters. You can read more of his articles on parental control and web monitoring software at www.webmonitoringsoftware.net.