How To Easily Monitor Your Teenager's Pc Time

2007-10-14 Word Count: 738 Category: Kids

There are many ways to check up on your kid's online usage. Read below for one simple way that costs nothing and is immediately effective.

The Problem

Parents today should be vigilant about knowing what their children are doing online. There are many ways to prevent their children from visiting inappropriate Internet addresses when they are online. Each of the ways has its strengths and weaknesses, however there is one technique that stands out above all the other ways for maximum effectiveness.

For adults who give up and say it is impossible to keep track of what their children are doing on the computer, here is a comparison that they can take to heart. Would they have a similar response argument if the topic was playing with matches on the parlor floor? Then why is the topic of PC usage any different?

Age Warnings

Age warnings or minimum age verification checks on sites reasonably cover the webmaster from a legal standpoint for excluding those who are not old enough to view the site's content. Of course, from a teen's viewpoint, those safeguards only serve to make the site more appealing and they no doubt check off the age box in whatever way will let them into the site.

Help At The ISP Level

Major search engines and many Internet service providers have "parental locks" similar to the V-Chip on television sets. The purpose of these is to block access to sites that have non-parent approved content. You can set search engine home pages to only provide acceptable results. There are usually levels of "safety" that you can determine.

Parents also spend lots of money on filtering software like Norton Internet Security, K9 Web Protection, ContentBarrier, and other similar products. While filtering is probably pretty effective, Internet filtering software has its share of quirks too. The usual example is that the filters block viewing of medical or medical related research such as thoat belonging to various breast cancer foundations because those sites make reference to body parts.

Going Higher Hi-Tech

For an even more-high-tech solution, there are software programs called keyloggers. Keyloggers record what has been input on a keyboard and can display that information. In effect, they are allowing you} to spy on what has been typed on a keyboard long after the typing is done. There are other programs that can record everything that has taken place on a computer including, chat conversations, e-mail messages, e-mails, email conversations sent and received, pictures viewed, and sites visited. Some programs even allow parents to put in place a system to alert when a violation occurs such as a teen visiting a chat room that a parent or guardian has instructed him or her not to visit.

Any or all of the above suggestions may contribute to a parent's overall strategy to protect his or her children from the dangers of the modern online world, but there is still one more idea that every parent should implement .

The Final Solution

The best solution is also the most obvious one, which means that is easily overlooked. Here it is in one sentence; it fosters family togetherness and it's free. Ready? Put the PC smack dab in the middle of the living room!

Would you like a minute to get over the shock of this idea? I warned you that the brilliance would be in the simplicity. I know you can imagine the look of astonishment on your son's face and the screams of protest from your daughter that you are ruining her life and totally invading her privacy with this act of parental treason. You will have to put an end to the arguments that your kid's friend's parents let them have their net access in their own bedrooms.

Effective parenting techniques should never be based on the neighbors and their behavior unless they happen to be exemplary role models as parents. If that is the case, I can practically guarantee that your their children won't beg you to copy their parenting skills.

Parents, stay strong and don't be afraid to get that computer front and center in the main room of the house right now and you will never again have to wonder what your kids post on their AOL profiles and with whom they are chatting over an instant messenger service.