Good Information Articles

Monitoring Internet Activity of Kids

Online safety is a top "family" issue these days. It's all over the news, blogs, and everybody concerned with kids wants to call themselves an expert and regurgitate the same tips. Well, it may seem like the message is finally sinking in and parents are listening: monitoring Internet activity of children is essential. Why then, pray tell, are so few putting it into physical practice. Why is it that as the ability to communicate and participate within the world escalated to new heights, parental governance of children decreased? How does that make sense?

Answer: thanks to an irrational and wrongly associated bad stigma placed on the idea of parents playing big brother.

For some reason, parents have stopped being parents. The moms and dads of the Net generation literally have a fear of invading their child's "privacy." First of all, that term "privacy" is wrong, but aside from that - WHAT?! Seriously, folks, parent job numero uno is to protect your child. How can you do that if you don't know what they are doing, where they are going or who they associate with on a regular basis?

Let's first look at the "privacy" issue. Many critics and foolish naysayers liken the use of monitoring software to reading a personal diary, listening to a phone conversation, or even reading mail.

Checking and monitoring the online activity of your kids couldn't be more different than any of those three activities of previous parental generations.

1. The diary of generations past was a secret document, always kept under lock-and-key, that usually no one but the author read. (Unless someone died and either a family member reads - or in the case of someone famous, everyone reads). There is nothing - absolutely nothing - with that level of privacy on the Internet. Everything is public - especially a social networking page and chat rooms.

2. The elongated phone calls made by teens of the 1980s and '90s - remember those? I did it. (My little sister was a pro.) Anyone who thinks that checking emails or reading IM chats of kids is like eavesdropping on phone conversations or reading mail, think again. My parents always knew who was on the other end of the phone and where the letters came from. More importantly, so did I. I don't remember ever picking up the phone and calling a random stranger multiple times and forming a relationship with them. Nor did a stranger call me& Not to mention that basically everyone in the house could hear one end of the conversation. Do you know for sure who is on the other end of an IM chat with your kids? Can you hear what is being said at all?

So forget "privacy." It's not an issue of that& it's simply the same parenting, just at a 2.0 level.

Internet predators are no doubt the most highly-publicized threats to kids. From lurking on MySpace/ Facebook to trolling chatrooms and online games, they are out there and they WILL try to solicit, lure, groom and befriend your child. Make no mistake about it. But in all reality, it's cyberbullying that is a much bigger, more prevalent threat to your child.

You can do a search for stats, but the most commonly used one seems to be that 1 in 7 kids has been approached online by a would-be predator. That is a basic number that doesn't take into account multiple attempts, successes or failures (for the pred). That's about 14 (double) have been cyber bullied in some way; about 1 in 8 admitted to acting as a bully.

This means that in a standard class of 24 students, 3 of them are actively bullying about 7 of the kids in the classroom.

Past those two external threats, young Internet users aren't fully aware of the consequences of illegal file sharing or posting too much personal and private information online. Their own eagerness to participate and average youthful naivet? can cause them to do things they shouldn't be doing. But how would you know? Simple: by monitoring computer and internet activity.

You need monitoring software. You need a tool that will record everything your child does so you can go through and review, and parent accordingly. A title I recommend is PC Pandora 5.0, which works like a DVR for your computer. The program takes sequential snapshots of what is on the computer screen, providing parents with an accurate foolproof visual record of everything their children did on the computer. It also keeps detailed logs of websites visited, emails sent and received, instant messenger chats, keystrokes logged, peer-2-peer files traded, programs accessed and more. It will even email a busy parent at work with updates on activity.

A lot of skeptics are quick to assume that the wealth of knowledge obtained from monitoring software like PC Pandora (http://www.pcpandora.com) is a power that can quickly and easily be misused by parents. Some fear that innocent checking and monitoring will quickly turn to snooping and spying.

Well, hey, guess what - parenting is a tough job. There are many lines to walk; this is one of them. Parents are supposed to be the responsible ones in the house. This includes setting rules for the kids and adhering to personal ones at the same time. You don't need to know who has a crush on who in class, or other random sordid teenage details. But you do need to know if your child is being bullied or talking to someone online with a suspicious screen name. You should also be able to monitoring Internet activity just enough to be able to prevent teenagers from indulging in illegal activity (like drugs, alcohol, etc.), while at the same time letting your kids be kids and explore, learn and grow.

So while some may feel monitoring computer activity of kids is "too much" and just like "spying," I like to think of it more as "wholly appropriate" and "absolutely necessary" 21st century parenting. Do some research and invest in monitoring software so you can know what your child is doing in the online world. Information is power. Don't be a weak parent.

A 2-hour trial of PC Pandora is available at the website: www.pcpandora.com.

Paul is just your run of the mill average dad who cares about online safety and is committed to keeping kids safe in the virtual world, any way possible.

Other Article Sites

findabook.com  moneycd.info  a-mortgage.info   about-lemon-laws.info  aboutstudentloans.info
all-about-publishing.info  auctions-articles.info  bestcollege-university.com  bestispconnection.com
biblefolder.com  blogger-website.com  books-used.info  brokers-guide.info  buywindows.info  cable-dsl.info
career-miner.com  carpel-tunnel.info  cashinaflash.info  cashloanreviews.info  casinobell.com  chat-house.info
clearmycredit.info  collegeloantips.info  crones.info  depression-articles.info   dirnic.net  dishguides.info
divers-below.com  expodog.info   financewizz.com  fire-insurance.info  getgood.info  handleit.net   it-idea.info
health-supplies.info  hosting-right.com  insidealert.com  insurance-facts.info  jobs-employment.info
justgood.info  lookgold.net   lowcost-travel.info  money-source.info  myhostzone.info  numisblog.com
peoplesearchfinder.info  pr-articles.info  realeas.com   refinancing-guides.info  spyware-remove.info
telelot.info  the-law.info   toppaid.info  travel-deals.info  travelcorrect.com  wedding-guide-site.com
your-blog.info  your-credit.info

MORE ARTICLES:

Internet Home Based Business : Legitimate Work at Home Jobs Opportunities and Advantages
There are many advantages involved in choosing an internet home based business as your primary or secondary source of income Use these benefits to find a legitimate work at home jobs that suits your needs and desires

SoGoNow.com -- Home of the Best Travel Article Written for the Internet in 2006
SoGoNow.com travel magazine announced that frequent contributor Linda Fasteson has won First Prize for the Best Travel Article Written for the Internet from The North American Travel Journalist Association.

Making Time For Your Family and a New Internet Home Business
Starting your own internet home business can be a very fulfilling experience. It offers many new and exciting challenges, with the hopes of providing financial security for you and your family.

Home Internet Business Opportunities: Reinvent Your Family
Think about your daily job, daily responsibilities, time spent at meetings, driving your kids to this activity and that sporting event, meal planning and preparation, house cleaning, on and on with our grossly busy lives, and what time is left for our family? Do you really think that 9-5 JOB is the answer to all of our hopes and dreams? Do you really think it was our personal goal to spend the majority of our lives at work? When was the last time you saw your son/daughter play in that school volleyball game or run in their cross country meet? Isn?t it time to put your family first?

Family Circus - Make Time For Family With An Internet Business
Sometimes, it seems like you don?t have a full 24 hours in a day. Between work, family, and sleep, there is no time for anything else. You never seem to have five minutes to relax, and on days when work requires overtime, you lose time with your family. In fact, it seems you never spend quality time with your children anymore. One way to get your life back under your control and manage time better is to start your own internet business. With an online business opportunity, you can decrease your work hours overall, as well as become more flexible and available for your family.

Travel Insurance When Pregnant Or Traveling With Children
There was a time when pregnant women would avoid traveling altogether, but these days women don't let pregnancy stop them from going abroad and having fun. Only you can decide whether the pros outweigh the cons when travelling while pregnant or with small children.

Business & Family Safety and Health Rating
For good reason, practically every endeavor in life is rated. I've seen ratings on who or what's #1 in business, industry, NFL, NBA, MLB, person of the century, athlete of the century, technology, restaurants, university, neighborhoods, travel destination, best looking, best movie, best book, etc.

Internet Marketing Business - Your Home Based Internet Marketing Business and the Freedom Attached with it
There are various reasons why there are many individuals who want to start their own home-based Internet marketing business. Some are saying that the amount of money that they are earning from Internet marketing is higher compared to their monthly salary from their regular work. It even comes to a point that they are earning money similar to or more than the salary of their managers and department heads! This is relatively true, since there are Internet marketers who are earning as much as a hundred thousands of dollars within a month.

Family Travel at its Finest - European Villa Rentals Perfect for the Whole Family
Parents can easily find family friendly villa rentals in Europe with Rentvillas.com.

New Home Based Travel Businesses and Training Available for Retirees and Work-At-Home Parents
Affordable training is now being offered for those wishing to set up their own home based travel businesses. Program offers participants everything they need to get started quickly and affordably in this exciting market.

The Best Internet Connection For A Top Home Internet Business
When it comes to working at your home business one of the most important things you will need is internet access Having a fast and relatively error free Internet connection is imperative for a person to be successful in working at home

Work From Home - Online Resource Center for Home Based Online Jobs and Internet Based Business
Welcome to Work from Home?s ?an online guide and resource website to help you Start and grow your Home based Job and Business. Please note that we are only offering information on Work from Home Jobs and Business opportunities. We are not offering you a job or a business tie-up. Please read through the website as you will find valuable information and resources to start and grow your home based business. www.homebasedonlinejobs.com

Low-Income Families in Portland Will Soon Have Free Broadband Internet at Home
Cricket Will Provide Free High-Speed Wireless Internet to 100 Portland Families in Pilot Program with One Economy

Children's Home Society & Family Services Receives Reaccreditation to Once Again Facilitate Adoptions in Russia
Children's Home Society & Family Services, a Minnesota-based international adoption service provider, announced today it has been re-accredited by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation to facilitate adoptions in that country.