Monitoring Your Teenagers PC Time

There are many ways to check up on your child's Internet time. Read below for an easy option that costs nothing and is immediately useful. The Problem Parents today must be vigilant about knowing what their children are doing online. There are many ways to prevent their children from visiting inappropriate websites when they are online.

Each of the ways has its strengths and weaknesses, but there is a way that stands out above all the others when it comes to maximum effectiveness. For parents who throw up their hands and say it is too hard to keep track of what their children are doing when they are connected to the computer, here is a comparison that they can take to heart. Would they have the same reaction if the topic was playing with matches on the living room floor? Then why is the topic of Internet usage any different? Age Warnings Age warnings or minimum age verification check boxes on sites cover the webmaster from a legal standpoint for excluding those who are not old enough to view the the site. Of course, from a kid's point of view, those measures only make the site more appealing and they no doubt check off the age box in whatever way will get them into the site. Help At The ISP Level Major search engines and a number of Internet service providers have "parental locks" similar to the V-Chip on television sets. The purpose of these is to block access to sites that have non-parent approved material.

You can set search engine home pages to only provide acceptable content. There are usually degrees of "safety" that you can determine. Parents also spend lots of money on Internetfiltering software such as CyberPatrol, K9 Web Protection, ContentBarrier, and other similar products. While they are probably reasonably effective, computer filtering software has its quirks too.

An often-cited example is that the filters block viewing of medical or medical related research such as thoat belonging to various breast cancer foundations because those sites make reference to body parts. Undercover Sleuthing Stepping it up a notch technology wise, there are software programs known as keyloggers. Keyloggers record what has been input on a keyboard and can regurgitate that information. Essentially, keyloggers are allowing someone} to spy on what has been typed on a keyboard after the fact. There are also programs that can record everything that takes place on a particularcomputer including, instant Messanging discussions, e-mail messages, e-mails, email conversations sent and received, pictures downloaded, and websites visited. Some software even allows parents to set up a system to alert when a violation occurs such as a child visiting a chat room that a parent or guardian has restricted.

Any or all of the above suggestions may contribute to a parent's overall strategy to protect his or her children from the dangers of the modern online world, but there is still one more suggestion that every parent should implement . Creatively Solving The Problem The easiest solution is also the most obvious one, which means that is easily overlooked. It only takes one sentence; it encourages family unity and it's free.

Ready? Put the PC right in the middle of the main room of the house! Do you need some time to get over the shock of this suggestion? I warned you that the brilliance would be in the simplicity. I'm sure you can imagine the look of horror on your son's face and the screams of complaint from your daughter that you are ruining her life and totally invading her privacy with this act of parental treason. You will have to put an end to the arguments that your kid's friend's parents let them have their laptops in their own rooms.

Effective parenting techniques should never be based on the neighbors and their behavior unless they are exemplary role models as parents. Should you find yourself in that situation, I can practically guarantee that your their kids won't be begging you to imitate their parenting skills. Parents, stay strong and don't be afraid to get that computer front and center in the living room right now and you will never again have to wonder what your kids post on their facebook profiles and with whom they are chatting in chatrooms.

Get more free parenting tips by visiting Matthew W. Grant's parenting site at (http://www.SomeoneElsesKids.com).