5 Ways to Protect Kids Online
Every morning, about 6am, I sit down with a cup of coffee and scan my favorite blog. I love the parenting blogs, but lately I’ve really been getting into technology. Call me a geek, but I want to know about the latest and greatest gadgets and gizmos out there. Today, I opened up Daily Cup of Tech and read “Ways to Protect Your Children Online“.This post was so informative, I just had to pass it along to you.
Read it… learn from it… enjoy it!
1. No Private Computers
It is fine for your kids to have their own computers but they should be kept in a public location. This means that they do not keep them in their bedrooms. The family rec room or a common office is where they should be. That way, they will not feel as if they have the opportunity to slip one past you.
2. Filter the Internet
Some free Internet filters include:
- Naomi
- ParentControlBar
- Parental Filter
- KidRocket
- BlockSite Firefox Extension
3. No Internet Without an Adult
You should not let your children on the Internet unless there is a responsible adult available. This means that if your young people are home when you are not, they are not on the Internet. You need to be able to lock the Internet out in order to do this.
There are several ways that you can lock out the Internet. Typically, this is done with either software that requires a password or a hardware “key” that you need to put into the computer to give them access.
4. Monitor your Children’s Computer
Periodically, check the web filter logs and your history on your children’s computers. Make sure that you know where they are going and what they are doing.
5. Establish Computer Rules
Create a list of rules for using the computer. Make posters of these rules and post them by the computers. Create a contract that both you and your children sign obligating them to follow the rules.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:52 am
October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month so this post fits in very nicely with keeping our children safe when they are online. I wanted to point out that both Naomi and Parental Filter stopped being supported. For another new home web filtering product I would suggest Livia Web Protection ( http://www.liviaweb.com ). It recently was released in July and is powered by Websense, which is the top web filter used for organizations and schools in the world. Livia brings enterprise class protection to the home user, especially targeted to keep children safe online and protect their eyes from the bad stuff that has taken over the internet.