by B. Lee

Created on: August 08, 2008

Most kids think of the Internet as a fun learning place. And a great way to
spend time communicating with friends and family. The Internet can be a
great and special addition to most kids lives and also a dangerous
playground filled with online predators tracking young victims.
It's easy to to keep kids safe if parents monitor their kids
computer use and establish a few common sense rules like the

rules included in the following:

Supervise. Keep the Internet connected computer in a
family room. Keeping the Internet connected computer in
full view will allow you to easily monitor your kids
activities while they are online.

Rules. Establish rules where the kids can surf, what
sites they are allowed to view, or who they may communicate
with while online. Establishing rules on the sites they view or surf
to will dramatically reduce the risk they view adult related
material or enter sites which prey on young victims.

Time Limits. Establish the hours they are allowed to surf
the Internet. And place a time limit on the amount of Internet
access per day. For example, allowing kids online after
they finish homework from 5:00 to 6:00 weekdays. Kids who
spend too much time online are at higher risk of getting into
trouble while on the Internet.

Talk. Explain the risk of surfing online to your kids.
Encourage them to talk to you about online bullying, unsavory
characters, or any other problems they might encounter. Keeping
an open communication line with your kids will help keep them
safe and lessen the risk they will fall prey to an online predator.

Contacts. Explain how risky it is giving out their personal
information to strangers. Teach them to never share their
personal info such as name, address, school, friends, to
strangers. They might easily be tracked down by online
predators.

Net Monitoring Software. Install software that will
help monitor your kids surfing habits or will filter, control,
and restrict the sites the kids view on the Internet.
Surf to one of the free software sites like downloads.com
Type in "Parental Control Software or Net Monitor.
Check out a few of the top downloads. Read what the
editors have to say about the software or what users,
who have downloaded the software, think of the
products effectiveness.

Select Parental Control/Net Monitoring Software.
For example, do you want software to
block, monitor, record keystrokes, take snapshots
of sites visited? Restrict all adult sites? Software
is also available that will automatically e-mail you
when your child tries to access restricted sites.

Download/Install. Now that the Parental Control
software is installed safely on your computer your
child should be protected. Even the smartest little
computer techie will not be able to detect the
software as it runs silently in the background
monitoring their every move online.

Monitor. Don't just install the software and forget.
Check daily to view what your kids are doing online.
Keep an open comminication line going. Follow these
tips to keep your kids safe online.

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