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You are Here My Baby 1on1 » Parenting » Internet Safety for Your Kids
Internet Safety for Your Kids
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. Here's the bad news: filtering programs can't do the job by themselves. NentNanny and other applications like it search for certain words in the Web site your child is clicking on. Simple words like "belly" can be targets for blocking, causing frustration, while research on "breast cancer" may be impossible. But these word-blocking solutions are no good at all at blocking objectionable photo sites that have no objectionable words attached. Ask me how I know? My teenage son figured it out. He just went to Google Images and started looking. Your son could do that too. And the objectionable sites he found weren't blocked by NetNanny, which was turned on. The software could not have detected the objectionable photos, since NetNanny and similar software look for objectionable words. They are not able to evaluate pictures. So, what can you as a parent do? * Keep your computers where you can monitor what the kids are doing. Put them in the kitchen or wherever YOU are. *Only the adults should know the login password. The kids will have to have permission to get on. *Require the child to log off when he is done. Now the password is required for the next session. *Use NetNanny or a similar filter. It can only help. *Make sure the kids know your expectations and the consequences for disobeying. *Unplug the computer from the Internet if the child is using a word processor or other local program only. *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. Following these precautions will help you keep your kids safe, and will teach your teenagers good habits for avoiding temptations. -->
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Article by: PhyllisWheeler |
Total views: 23 |
Word Count: 349 About the AuthorPhyllis Wheeler, the Computer Lady, gives this advice for mothers and fathers.. She also furnishes homeschool computer courses via MotherboardBooks.com, which has provided self-study computer skills and programming courses for kids and teens since 2003.
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