Kids are being taught how to use computers at such an early age. Many schools start teaching about computers as early as kindergarten and by the time your children reach junior high, chances are they will know as much or more about computer operations as you. This can be intimidating for parents sometimes, but if you allow your kids to use any computer you have at home, it is imperative that you learn a few things about what your kids are doing with it and how to protect them from themselves and others. It is a huge, ugly world out there and kids can access so much of it using the Internet.
Younger children are not likely to be searching for things that they should not be. Usually, they will accidentally stumble upon adult websites that you do not want them to see. Although they must usually have credit cards and passwords to actually get into these sites, they can see advertisements that are pretty raunchy and explicit in themselves. However, teenagers might be a completely different matter.
Teenagers will often seek out websites that they know you would not want them to see or take part in. This is where a parent must really be cautious. The possibility for them to actually get into an adult website or adult chat room is a lot more common. The social websites are very popular with teenagers and even some younger ones these days. You might think these sites are harmless because they are only talking to others their own age, but that may not be the case. Teens are often posting pictures and even videos that contain nudity and your teen could be one of them and you might not even know it. This is an open invitation for predators. If you have been paying any attention at all, you should know by now that sites like these are frequented by sexual predators of all kinds trying to entice unsuspecting kids into real life meetings where their very lives can be put in danger.
No parent wants to smother their kids to the point that they feel they have no privacy at all or make them feel they are distrusted before they have even done anything to deserve it, but a computer with Internet access is no place to give your kids their wings of freedom. You must supervise their computer activities for their own protection whether they like it or not. You need to have specific rules in place concerning their computer and Internet use. Keep a computer in a family setting where you can see what is going on at all time.
You might not enjoy babysitting your kids while they use the Internet, but if you are smart and responsible you will. Sometimes it is good to limit the time they are allowed on the computer. You need to have your computer set to disallow certain sites from being displayed and if you do not know how to check out the places your kids have visited, you need to learn.
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