Protecting Your Teen From The Internet

When your child reaches middle school, and even before that, they will have access to the Internet. Many children have devices such as laptops, iPods, and phones that help them instantly connect to the Internet and once they do, what they can do stretches into multiple directions. It's important that you monitor what goes on with your child from the very beginning. They might insist upon having their own privacy, but as far as computers go, the best thing is to put it out in a common room where everyone can access it. If you keep the computer, whether it is a desk top or a laptop, in a family area, it will reduce the likelihood of your teen doing something he or she shouldn't because they will feel like they are in a community area and they won't want to do anything dangerous. Also, if they know that you can check the computer history, then they will also be more careful in their Internet wanderings. You want to make sure that you keep an eye on the sites they visit and the things that they are doing because there are a hundred dangers present on the virtual landscape. You want to be on the lookout for unusual links and chat room entries. Sometimes children that are just blossoming into teen hood want a boyfriend or girlfriend and unsure of how to proceed, they enter dangerous chat rooms and begin innocent flirtations with strangers that they meet. In fact, there are chat rooms that are designed for teens but really can be open to anyone of any age, making it a dangerous place for your child to visit. This means, you want to make sure that your child is not visiting these chat rooms because things can spin out of control. For example, you need to teach them never to share any personal information, such as email, address, or phone number, or name, and you need to make sure that you keep tabs to ensure that they aren't. Part of protecting your teen comes from effective teaching of what is right and wrong, and the other half is to ensure that it is being executed, but you want to make sure you are also respecting their privacy because you don't want them to regard you like Stalin's regime, either. Putting parent blocks on the computer and making sure that access to all sites except the ones you have marked safe will help you and your child because they can visit places they know are all right and you won't have to sneak through their things. Sometimes, though, if you witness unusual behavior in your child, then it is important to make sure you talk to them and maybe you will have to go through their text messages or email messages in order to find out. This might seem like a breach of their trust, but if it leads to protecting them and if you can get through to them no other way, then you might not have a chance. Of course, when you find out what you find out, don't attack them with rage and anger, but rather, try to coax it out of them with the new light of information, you might find a new angle.