by Rhonda Twitty

Created on: January 18, 2009

I believe that MySpace is a safe venue for teens. It isn't the internet that is the bad guy here. As a parent I think that it is the our responsibility to keep the internet safe. What do I mean by that? Let's take a look at a couple of ways to keep your teen while giving them the freedom to explore cyberspace.

One of the first things that we can do is use the parental controls that are available to us on our computers. A lot of parents are not very computer savvy and they feel inadequate or maybe even intimidated by the computer. But as parents we need to overcome this fear to protect our family from online predators. Yes, there are predators on the internet who are out looking for unsupervised teens to prey on. You can go online to get some help on how to set you computer controls to protect your teen. You can set the controls that will not let sites come up that have bad language or sexual content.

But that really doesn't help much with sites like MySpace or just basic email. So what can we do about that without making our child feel like we don't trust them. First explain the dangers of the internet to your teen. One thing you can do is to don't put a computer with internet access in your teens bedroom. The reason for this is that you can monitor what your teen is doing by just walking by them. You also have more control of how much time your teen spends on the internet. Your teen may complain but it is for their best interest.

Now, let's get to emails and myspace communications. Well, one of the simplest ways to keep our teen safe is an open line of communication with our child. Talking to them and making sure that there isn't anything strange going on. Watch your child for agitation or aggression. These can be signs that your child may be harassed or bullied online. My last suggestion may sound a little bit like snooping but it is best for your child's safety. Every so often, you the parent will need to monitor your child's myspace and email communications. Yes! I am saying read their emails! If you and your teen have a good open relationship then this will not be a problem. But it can cause some discourse between you and your teen if he/she feels like your invading his/her privacy.

Just remember that you are the parent and your child's safety is top priority no matter how mad they may get at you. When your child is grown up then he/she will thank you for snooping.

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