Parental Controls

With all that it has to offer, the Internet is also a place that can be dangerous for children, despite the best efforts of high speed Internet providers. Pornography sites are everywhere - it can be worrisome letting your kids roam free online when you know there is so much damaging material floating around in cyberspace. Luckily, there are several steps you can take to ensure the safety of your children:
1. Don't be afraid to talk with your kids about the dangers that exist online. Pornography is not the only concern - violence and hate sites are also a problem. Discussing the realities of the Internet is important because if your kids accidentally come across objectionable material, they will comfortable enough to tell you about it.
2. Make it clear that giving out personal information online is a big no-no. Tell them never to meet up with someone they have met online, or send photographs to strangers on the Internet. Warn your kids never to respond to threatening e-mails.
3. High speed Internet providers often have excellent parental controls in place for filtering content. If you set the controls up properly, the filter will block questionable websites, chat rooms, newsgroups, and other areas of the Internet that children should stay away from.
4. Take initiative and find out what your school's policy is for Internet usage. Your child's school should have an acceptable use policy (AUP) for Internet access, outlining that all use of the Internet is supervised by an adult.
5. Pay attention to your children's behavior. If you walk into their room and they act suspicious or become nervous, something could be wrong. These responses may be a sign that your kids are accessing inappropriate sites or communicating with someone they don't know outside of the Internet.
6. If in the course of monitoring your children's online activity you discover that they've received pornographic or disturbing spam or IM messages, contact your ISP and report the problem. Your children should not be exposed to this kind of material in their inboxes.
7. Although checking the browser's history isn't foolproof (smart kids will know to delete the history after going online) it's still a good way to keep track of things. And if you notice large chunks of time missing from the history, something may be going on that you should check into.
8. Most kids are pretty obvious when they try to hide something. Set up the family computer in a busy area, and pay attention to what your kids are doing online. If they quickly close windows when you walk by, monitor their online activities more closely.
9. Keep informed about the latest technologies, especially for Internet monitoring. New products entering the market may offer better ways to monitor your kids Internet activities.
10. Don't carry out every monitoring activity incognito - be as upfront with your kids as possible, and let them know you're keeping tabs for safety purposes. Your kids will trust you more this way, and will be more willing to talk to you if they need help.
High speed Internet providers do their best to filter websites, and offer parental controls to their subscribers, so take advantage of the service. It's just one more weapon in the fight to protect your children from unwanted content.