How to Keep Your Kids Safe on the Internet

by: PhyllisWheeler
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Here's the issue: how to be sure your kids are safe from viewing objectionable sites when they are searching the Internet. After all, you don't want them to stumble across something they should not see.

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.

I have to tell you that there is no solution like that. These filter programs, such as NetNanny, look for a list of objectionable words in the site your child has chosen to visit. Simple words such as "leg" can raise the alarm and cause a headache, while regular research on breast cancer might be blocked.

But programs that look for words fail completely if the site has no objectionable words--only objectionable photos. My teenage son figured this out. He used Google Images to look for objectionable sites. He found them despite the fact that our filter, NetNanny, was turned on.

The problem is that filter programs search for individual words. They never look at pictures, and in fact cannot.

So, how can you protect your child?

* Keep your computers where you can monitor what the kids are doing. Put them in the kitchen or wherever YOU are.

*Have a login password that only the adults know. The kid has to have permission, and oversight, to use the computer.

*Ensure that the kid logs off when the computer session is over, or turns the computer off. This makes the password required for the next session.

*Use filtering software. It may help.

*Make sure the kids know your expectations and the consequences for disobeying.

*If a child is just using a word processor or some other local program, disconnect the Internet cable.

*Require younger children to use your email address. This will allow you to protect them from vicious spam. As they get older, give teens their own email address, but make sure they give it out only to friends.

Your watchfulness will pay off. Your children will be protected from what they should not see, and they will also learn good habits for using the Internet as adults.

About the Author

Phyllis Wheeler, the Computer Lady, offers these tips for mothers and fathers.. She also provides homeschool computer courses through MotherboardBooks.com, which has provided do-it-yourself computer skills and programming courses for kids and teens since 2003.  

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