How
to Keep Your Internet Child-safe:
Guarding Against
Pornography
The internet revolution has brought information to
the masses. It is a wonderful tool to stay in contact
with friends and family, shop for anything you could
ever imagine, find up-to-the-minute news from around
the world and of course acquire any information from
telephone numbers and
TV
listings
to a
detailed
description
of the affects of ocean currents on weather patterns
and instructions on how to fix the broken mirror on your
Ford Explorer.
Unfortunately with all of the good that the internet
brings us also comes a lot of bad. Not only do you have
to worry about viruses, spam, hackers, and spyware, but
you have to worry about the innocence
of your children. Things that you would never dream of
bringing
into your
home can now find their way in through the internet.
Not only do you need to protect your children from pornography
but now you need to protect them from online predators.
Here are some steps that you can take to help protect
your children:
- Adult supervision
- No program, filter, or password lock can protect
your children like someone looking over their
shoulder. Remember the internet is a privilege for
your
children
and not a right.
- If you have any kids that ever use your computer
you should always keep the computer out
in the open. The
computer should never be kept in a corner,
down in the basement or in a closed dark room. Yes
it may
not
match your decor, you may think it is an
eyesore, but aren't your kids worth it? Most parents
have no
idea
of the unspeakable depravity that can be
found on the internet, therefore they don't see the
need
for supervision.
Even if it is an inconvenience, your kids
need the accountability.
- Chat sites and messenger services may seem harmless
enough but that is the new playground for child predators!
Consider banning these things from your house altogether.
Remember there is no way to know for sure who they
are talking to, even if it is a kids chat room.
- If
banning chat rooms and messenger services seems
too harsh at least keep a close eye on it, ask
who they are talking to, are these friends that they
already know from school or are these strangers
they met on the internet? Learn the common code words
that they use, "brb"- "be right back", "lol" - "laugh
out loud", "pos" - "parent
over shoulder!!"
- Passwords are there for a reason.
- Don't give your kids the password to get on the
internet and take the check out of the box that says
"Remember Password". Yes it is a pain to have to
retype it every time, but this way your kids have
to ask you to get on and you have to be there to
type it in for them. Of course keep in mind they
can be very smart and figure it out so consider changing
the password every month or so. You can call Omega
Internet anytime to do this. It only takes a minute
and we are happy to oblige.
- Buy an internet filter program like Cyber-Sitter.
- Omega Internet recommends Cyber-Sitter as an added
protection for your children. It gives you a great
deal of control over what you want to keep your children
from seeing, including everything from pornography
and hate sites to Pokemon and Britney Spears websites.
You can buy this program at Omega Internet's office
in downtown Garden City, 301 N. Main St., or you
can order it directly from http://www.cybersitter.com
- Don't fall into the trap of thinking your kids would
never do any of this.
- The unfortunate truth is that your kids don't have
to go looking for these things, it can come looking
for them. There are sick people that find pleasure
in tricking kids into finding this trash, so don't
assume that your children won't look for this, they
can stumble across it on accident!
The internet is an invaluable tool for research, learning,
communication, and commerce that is nearly impossible to
go without in today's world. But like any tool, if misused
people can get hurt. So exercise these safety precautions
listed above and you can protect your family from the pitfalls
of working on the Internet.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® also has very good information for parents and children.
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