Parents More Involved in Internet Safety
The risk of online predators is making more parents aware of the need to know about their children's Internet use. The great news is that some parents are becoming more involved in what their children are doing online, and this is helping keep the Internet safe so that kids can still enjoy searching the web for the things they like.
Parents of the Appoquinimink School District of Delaware attended a workshop on how to protect their children online. According to Delaware Online the workshop panel, consisting of law enforcement experts and technology specialists, stated that blocking and filtering online content is a must for parents who wish to protect their teens from online predators.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reports that 48% of 16- and 17-year olds said their parents knew "very little" or "nothing" about their online activity. And teens are more likely to put themselves at risk because they don't have the life experience that adults have, and going online causes their defenses to drop--often because of misperceptions about anonymity and false senses of security.
According to New Castle County Police Detective Christopher Shanahan, 14% of 16- and 17-year olds met in person with someone they knew only from Web chats. Shanahan therefore strongly encourages parents to do their own detective work and know who's on their child's buddy list.
Communication with your children is key, says instructional technology specialist Karen Hartschuh; "Let them know you're going to check on them on a regular basis." We recommend all parents take the same approach as one parent mentioned in the article, Bill Alexander, who has clearly communicated his Internet safety rules to his 14-year old son in addition to monitoring the websites his son visits.
Yes, the Internet can be a fun and safe place for children--as long as parents are vigilant in monitoring what's going on. With parental control software like WebWatcher, parents can monitor and filter computer activities and can even monitor chats, too.
Parents of the Appoquinimink School District of Delaware attended a workshop on how to protect their children online. According to Delaware Online the workshop panel, consisting of law enforcement experts and technology specialists, stated that blocking and filtering online content is a must for parents who wish to protect their teens from online predators.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reports that 48% of 16- and 17-year olds said their parents knew "very little" or "nothing" about their online activity. And teens are more likely to put themselves at risk because they don't have the life experience that adults have, and going online causes their defenses to drop--often because of misperceptions about anonymity and false senses of security.
According to New Castle County Police Detective Christopher Shanahan, 14% of 16- and 17-year olds met in person with someone they knew only from Web chats. Shanahan therefore strongly encourages parents to do their own detective work and know who's on their child's buddy list.
Communication with your children is key, says instructional technology specialist Karen Hartschuh; "Let them know you're going to check on them on a regular basis." We recommend all parents take the same approach as one parent mentioned in the article, Bill Alexander, who has clearly communicated his Internet safety rules to his 14-year old son in addition to monitoring the websites his son visits.
Yes, the Internet can be a fun and safe place for children--as long as parents are vigilant in monitoring what's going on. With parental control software like WebWatcher, parents can monitor and filter computer activities and can even monitor chats, too.
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