Childs Safety Online

It would be easy to let your child use the Internet as he or she wants; mistakenly thinking that no harm could essentially come out of it. The Internet is, after all, just a medium through which we can buy things, find out information and play games. Put like this, there seems to be little need to restrict our children’s use of the Internet with an Internet filter, especially considering that there are so many other things they need protecting from first.

Some parents like to give their children as much freedom as possible; encouraging them to be responsible for their own decisions and the consequences of their actions. There is however, a limit for any parent, and at this point they start to exercise their parental right to restrict their child’s activities for his or her own protection.

Once parents find out about the possible problems that the Internet can cause their children, and also quite how flexible Internet filters can be, they very often decide to exercise their parental rights, and turn to such software for help.

Parents should be aware about the issues relating to Internet safety and child protection. One does not need to get sensationalist to make parents consider installing an Internet filter onto their home computer. With a bit of research on the Internet; parents can find out all sorts of useful information about the troubles that the Internet can potentially cause children. Some of this might come as a surprise to some parents, and those that previous have not considered it necessary to restrict their child’s access to the net might well decide that there is a need for it after all.

One of the primary, and most simple issue concerning your child’s use of the Internet, is the shear amount of time that he or she spends on it. Children today spend an ever increasing proportion of their spare time behind the computer, more often than not surfing the web. Whilst in moderation this is not intrinsically a problem, in excess it can be hazardous for the child’s all round mental and physical development. It is simply not what children are meant to do; sitting behind a computer for hours on end, instead of playing games that involve movement and socializing.

Another important issue is the material that children have access to over the Internet. Without the kind of control and protection that an Internet filter provides; a child can stumble across images and texts that almost every parent in the world will agree are not suitable for children. This problem is compounded by the fact that many of these inappropriate sites appear of their own accord, and then can be quite hard to get rid of.

No less big an issue (and potentially the most disastrous), derives from the opportunity the Internet gives to children to chat anonymously to anyone who has access to the web. This is possible through a variety of mediums, such as chat sites, messengers and blog sites. Whilst most of the people your child will talk to will be of a benelovent nature, there are a large number of people who use chat sites specifically to make contact with children, whilst pretending to be youngsters themselves, and then use this position to extract private information out of them. Sometimes they use the sites to flirt and play sexual games, and even sometimes to ‘groom’ children with the view of setting up a meeting.
Unfortunately, these people are often very adept at blending into chat groups, making it very hard for your children to differentiate between them and genuine children.

There are some people who think that Internet filters are just for religious types or overbearing parents, but that is really not true. They are in fact purchased by every layer of society; by people with a wide range of views, attitudes and moral standpoints. The reason why Internet filters are so popular amongst so many people, is because the degree of restriction that they bring to your computer and your child’s use of the Internet can be completely customized to suit your needs. Internet filters are indeed very flexible.
Internet filtering software enables you to set the level of restriction that you want for your child (which will be based on your views, the age of your child and so on).
You can, for instance, set your Internet filter so that your child can only use the net for a small period of time a day, and only has access to a few websites that you have specially selected. On the other end of the spectrum, however, you can give your child much longer access to the Internet each day, and let them have access to all sites except for a couple of specific websites that you have deemed inappropriate (perhaps, for instance, because your children spend far too much time on those sites).

Internet filters can help you to significantly reduce the risks of your children experiencing the problems as described above. With an Internet filter installed on your computer, you can fine tune how your computer is used, and keep it at a level of restriction suitable for you.

SoftForYou is child protection software company that offers parents the highly acclaimed and popular Internet filter program iProtectYou. It enables you to set how long your child can use the Internet each day, which sites he or she can access, which chat programs can be accessed and much more. Importantly, iProtectYou enables you to set different levels of restriction for different users. This means that you can set up the restrictions according to the level of protection that you want to give each of your children; according to their age and their needs.
To find out more about iProtectYou, please goto www.SoftForYou.com.

1. Talk to your child often. Staying in constant communication with your child alerts you when something changes in their behaviour. A happy outgoing child who is now withdrawn has something going on. Talk to them about cyber bullying and let them know they can confide in you about anything.

2. Keep threatening messages. If your child does become a victim of cyber bullying, a record of the messages is evidence for future use. Your ISP can trace the messages to see where they originated. For most ISPs, explicit or threatening messages are against their operating policies and they either don’t allow them to be sent in the first place or keep very close watch for them.

3. Teach your child how to deal with the situation. First of all, don’t respond to the messages. It will only provoke the bully. Getting into a fight is not going to solve the problem either. Ask your child if they know what started the situation. A counselor could help your child to deal with the harassment. Don’t forget to be there for your child because as you know a parent’s love and support does make a huge difference in any situation, especially a negative one.

4. Call the police. When the harassment takes on a threatening tone or involves pornography, get the police involved. They can use their resources to find the offending person. Even if they can’t nail down the person who originated the messages, they can trace them to a household and investigate.

5. Don’t let your child become a part of the problem. Kids think that talking bad about someone online is all in good fun and harmless but there is always someone on the receiving end who isn’t having a good time. Discuss the effects of cyber bullying and the consequences if you are caught doing it.

Cyber bullying is a very real threat to kids. It can destroy lives. Learn to handle the situation with your child and take precautions to prevent it as much as possible.

 Going to school can be a social minefield. Your child is there to learn but school is where they spend the majority of their day so they will have to learn to interact with other kids. Part of the social scene can include bullying. The newest element of this distasteful act is called cyber bullying. Cyber bullying is the use of online tools to harass someone.

The harassment can be in the form of pornographic material, threatening messages, hate crimes and impersonating another just to name a few. Cyber bullying is conducted through websites, emails, IM messages and chat rooms. The idea is to terrorize another person and harm them with or without laying a finger on them. This form of torture has become a real concern. It is bad enough when kids get pushed around in school by people who don’t like them or who want to pick on them for no reason.

Online, the audience is much wider. Someone who doesn’t even know your child could participate in the harassment and slander their good name. As a parent, you are not powerless. You know your child better than anyone so use that to your advantage when it comes to cyber bullying. 

Save this as a favorite for part 2 of the article “Cyber Bullying-part 2″

 I am sure that unless you have been living on another planet you know about  Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter? If you haven’t, I guarantee your kids have!

 These are just a few of the social networking sites where kids can meet other peers and create their own page to highlight who they are. Before letting your kids interact on these or any other teen sites, fill them in on a few precautions in order to help them stay safe. No one wants to rob their child of the joy of being a child. But, the world is a dangerous place. Even though your children are not yet adults, they need to be aware of what is going on around them.

 Child predators are counting on their innocence as a way to trap them. You don’t have to scare your kids, but keep them informed as a safety measure.

1. Don’t give out any personal information to anyone. It’s exciting to meet new people online, but it could be that your child’s new “friend” is a sexual predator. They will coax information out of your child over time. With a name and address or even a name and a high school, a predator can locate and stalk a child.

 2. Don’t agree to meet with any online friends without parents present. Luring is the term used for online predators who use social sites to meet and talk kids into leaving their homes. It is harder to catch them if a child one day walks out to meet them instead of the predator showing up on your doorstep. When a friend wants to meet with your child, use your best judgment and always go along should you decide to let them meet someone they’ve met online.

3. Avoid sexual conversations. A sexual predator won’t come right out and ask your child sexually explicit questions. They start by gaining their trust and then easing into such conversations. The rule of thumb should be not to discuss sex at all or what your child looks like.

To that end, teach them to be safe in online situations so they don’t become a victim.

There once was a time when computers took up an entire room. Now, every household has at least one. If you have computers (desktops and laptops) in your home and the kids have access to them implement a few guidelines to keep them safe while on the Internet.

Everyone in your household values their privacy. If you have teenagers this is most likely a big issue for you now. When it comes to online communication, their privacy will always take a back seat to their safety when they are in control. You lock your home’s door against predators, but unfortunately these slimy thieves have found another way to get in – your computer.

How can you protect your kids when they are online just like you do inside your home? Here are 5 ways to make computer time for your children safe and give you some much needed peace of mind too.

1. Communicate with your children. This is one of the main lines of defense against child predators. Open communication creates an atmosphere of trust in the home. You explain that the Internet can be dangerous and that certain safeguards are set up for your child’s protection. This doesn’t mean overreacting if they slip up. Kids are curious and these times are to be expected and dealt with appropriately.

2. Keep computers in a common area. When a child is using the computer behind bedroom doors it is harder to monitor what they are seeing and doing. In the family room or den, you can walk by or be in the same room while they are online. If a computer is allowed in the bedroom for school work, the door must remain open while they are using it. Usually this little nugget keeps most kids from viewing explicit pages out of curiosity since they know their parents might be watching.

3. Set up parental controls on your computer. Kids of all ages know how to use the Internet now. Parental controls stop them from accessing pages that have potential adult content on them. You can also use install software that such as McGruff Safeguard, ContentBarrier X4, and KaZipster to monitor their time online and prevent the sending, and/or receiving, of explicit material and personal information.

Online safety begins at home. What your kids learn from you will help to keep them safe and online savvy even when away from home.