Tips for Parents: How to Help Kids Play it Safe Online
As a parent, you are concerned about the dangers facing your child(ren)
both online and offline. But think in a 21st Century frame of mind...
No doubt your kids face more dangers today than your parents had cause to
worry about when you were growing up. Maybe (almost certainly) there were
no online prowlers lurking in kid chat rooms to snatch you from your
innocence. Maybe the term identity theft wasn't even coined yet.
Online Security -
Welcome to today!
Parents should take online security seriously. The sad reality is that
many adults pay more attention to barring the doors to their houses and
leave the doors to their homes (and their kids' lives) wide open.
Just because your kid is in the house doesn't mean he is safe from the
attacker 500 miles away, somewhere. There can be a child molester right
there in your home through your internet connection.
Sounds frightening but it's true. This is the age of the Internet.
How to Ensure the Safety of Children and the Security of Your Computer Online
Know what is happening on your computer. Admit it though, this can be difficult even when you
are the sole user, but much more challenging when more than one person uses
your computer.
The fact is, we cannot see bits and bytes - we only see some of the
information displayed on our monitor when we use the computer.
You need an anti-virus program to capture viruses, spyware remover to
remove spyware and adware, and you need monitoring software to see
if inappropriate material is being handled by your computer.
Parents need to monitor children's online activities - regardless of how
innocent or angelic you think they are. Even if they don't go in the way
of danger, the dangers of the Internet go everywhere.
Young kids and teens like to fraternize and chat with their peers.
Internet chat rooms are free to use and more far-reaching. If the cost of
your telephone bill used to prevent them from making long distance phone
calls, nowadays the Australian kid can chat with the teen from Augusta for
hours for free.
Many parents may not even be up to date with the latest Internet chat
technologies. But there is help for parents in understanding what does on
in your kid's chat rooms.
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