Your kid can make the most of his online time with your guidance

The Internet has changed the way our children socialize and learn. Through the internet, our children make friends and build their own little network of pals. The internet allows them to express themselves to an incredibly vast audience, often wider than they realize or intend to reach. It has also changed the way they do homework and research, or meet other academic requirements.

Parental Commitment

With the pervasive influence the internet has on our children, parents must take the effort to manage their children’s use and exposure to it. Managing internet use may be easier for younger children who comply more easily than older children. Moreover, the parental controls employed on younger children may be difficult to impose on teenagers who’d rather make decisions for themselves. Still, parents of older kids and teenagers must exert enough effort to train them on how to use the internet safely and responsibly.

Here are some tips to help you keep your kids safe on the internet.
 

Tips for Parents of Younger Children 

•  Step one for parents of younger children is to learn more about computer settings that can block inappropriate content and control your child’s usage. Click HERE for an example of computer-enabled parental controls. There are numerous software packages out there that you can either download or purchase to help filter and control internet content. It is definitely worth investing time and/or money learning about and installing such software.

• Spend some time deciding where your child can and can’t go on the internet. Sites like http://www.kidsites.com/ can help. This site contains links to other sites that have been rated appropriate for child-viewing. But don’t just accept these recommendations at face value; you yourself should browse the sites and make your own assessment.

• To assess a site, pay special attention to the images used (whether they are innocent or suggestive), the language used (whether or not it’s the kind of language you want your child to be exposed to), and the kind of pop-ups and advertisements you encounter (whether or not they contain inappropriate content.) Also check whether a particular site allows your child to interact with other children. Think about how you will deal with the possibility of your child picking up bad language or attitudes from other children.

• Depending on the age of your child, and whether or not he knows how to input data, instruct your child never to give personal information on any internet site or to any person online without your consent.

• Once you’ve selected the sites you approve and disapprove of, set your computer settings to allow or disallow access to those sites. Also create desktop shortcuts of approved sites to make it easier for you and your child to access them directly. 

• If your child wants his own account for a particular social networking site, make sure you set up the account with him and know his password. Also ensure that you’ve set your child’s profile to “Private” (or the equivalent) which prevents the general public from viewing his information and activity.

• Keep an eye on the people who communicate with your child through email messages, comments or posts on your child’s profile. Make sure you know everyone your child communicates regularly with.

Tips for Parents of Older Children & Teenagers

• Again, learn all you can about the sites that your older children and teenagers are preoccupied with. If they are into Facebook and Twitter, you might want to get onboard as well.

• As mentioned earlier, older children and teenagers may not appreciate some of the parental controls and strategies described in the previous section. Trying to employ excessive control over your teenager’s internet use may only drive him to use the internet elsewhere. Since you can’t be with your teenager every minute of the day, educate him instead on the risks that exist on the internet.

• Share with your teenager news stories or articles on things like internet scams, cyber-bullying, and other internet-related incidents. Encourage him to share his own stories of people he knows who have fallen victim to the same risks.

• Make sure your teenager understands the risks of sharing personal information over the internet.

• Make your teenager feel that you trust him to make sound decisions when it comes to selecting sites to view. This expression of trust may, indeed, motivate him to make good decisions.

• Always keep an open mind when talking to your teenager about internet behavior, allowing him to express his concerns. If you keep an open mind and refrain from being judgmental or preachy, your teenager will be more likely to approach you when he encounters problems online (i.e. persistent or offensive users). Otherwise, he may hide these problems from you and try to deal with them on his own.

Perhaps your best weapon as a parent against the risks posed by the internet, is awareness and constant communication with your child. Having taught your child to use the internet safely and responsibly allows you to take advantage of the many educational benefits the internet has to offer.

ANGELA ABAYA-GARCIA has worked for multinational corporations as project officer and team leader. She now divides her time between doing freelance editorial or consulting work and being a mother to 11 year-old Enzo and one year-old Amanda.