Tips for Protecting Your Children When They Use the Internet

Tips for Protecting Your Children When They Use the Internet



The internet is a valuable tool for many reasons. It gives you the ability to search for things you need to know, you'll be able to find directions to a vacation site, and you'll be able to learn new things. While those are all good things, we never seem to think about the bad things online and what we need to do to protect our children while they use the internet.
What you may not think about when it comes to the internet is the strangers out there looking to find kids that will trust them and then want to meet them. You may not think about the pornography that's online as well. The other thing you may not think about is the gambling sites that are pretty easy for a child to get in and start playing.
So the important question is, how do you protect your children from this terrible, yet important tool? Here are a few suggestions for you to consider.
1. Set parental restrictions on your computer. Most computers offer this as a standard option. You have the ability to enter keywords or specific sites you don't want your child to visit. This will help you to prevent those sites you don't want your children to visit from coming up.
2. When children are alone they're likely to visit sites they wouldn't otherwise visit. So it's important you don't allow your children to take a computer to their room. It's better to have the computer in a location where the family spends a lot of time.
3. Time restrictions also help to prevent your children from visiting those sites. It's a good idea to have it turned off no later than 9 pm. When they have short amounts of time online they won't have the time to search and stumble upon those sites.
4. Communicate with your children on a regular basis and make sure they understand how dangerous it is to talk to people they don't know online and in chat rooms. Make sure they understand certain things are illegal and could get them in serious trouble.
Schools are using the internet for research more and more and are even shying away from the library resources. Some schools at the middle school and high school levels are starting to give children computers to take home with them.
No matter where the computer comes from you need to find ways to protect your children. The internet, your local library, and your child's school will be a wealth of information, so make sure you find ways to protect your children so nothing bad happens to them.