The Internet is an amazing tool that people rely on more and more in various aspects of their lives. One of the fastest growing demographics of Internet users are children. Unfortunately, children are also one of the demographics most vulnerable to being taken advantage of online, making protecting children a top concern for parents and software developers alike. There are several keys to making sure that children are protected when they use the Internet.
The most important thing that can be done to help a child stay safe when using the Internet is to educate them about the dangers that exist online. Kids should know that while sites like chat rooms seem like a lot of fun, there could be dangerous people looking for photos or personal information of kids.
Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are becoming increasingly popular with teens, but users should take precautions, such as setting profile pages to “private” to control who is allowed to see the child’s page. Personal information, such as phone numbers and addresses, should never be posted in a public place on the Internet.
One of the tools that parents often turn to to keep their children safe online is filtering software. This software is designed to examine web pages for content that may be offensive, inappropriate, or unsafe for children and to block access to the site from a user’s computer. This software is effective and useful, but it should never be considered a replacement for parental supervision.
There are often sites that somehow find loopholes in even the most effective filters, so parents still need to monitor computer activity. One of the disadvantages of filtering software is that pages that are harmless can be blocked, making it difficult for the user to access the necessary information from a harmless website. Filtering software must be password protected so that children cannot access the entire Internet.
Many parents monitor children’s Internet activities by tracking where they have been online. Checking browser history and other files stored on computers as users navigate from one web page to another is a good way to make sure your kids stay away from harmful or offensive sites. However, many children who use the Internet are smart enough to know how to cover their tracks, so relying on tracking the history of websites visited is not enough in most cases. Several filtering programs send parents a weekly report of websites visited and time spent online, a more accurate way to track a child’s Internet activity.
Establishing house rules for computer and Internet use is another effective way to protect children who use the Internet. Some rules might include keeping the computer in a public room in the house, limiting the time and hours each day the Internet can be used, and maintaining a list of approved websites for children to visit.
It is the parent’s responsibility to use a combination of all of the above tools and ideas to ensure that their children using the Internet are protected.