The Issue



Parents today should be vigilant about knowing what their teens are doing online. There are many ways to prevent their teens from visiting inappropriate URL's when they are online. Each way has its strengths and its weaknesses, however one way stands out above all the other ways for maximum effectiveness.

For adults who give up and say it is too hard to keep track of what their teens are doing online, I have an analogy that they should pay attention to Would they have a similar reaction if the topic was playing with matches on the living room floor? Why is the discussion of online usage any different?

Age Verfication

Age warnings or minimum age verification check boxes on websites reasonably cover the site owner from a legal standpoint for excluding those who are not old enough to view the content of the site. Of course, from a teen's point of view, those filters only serve to make the site more interesting and they no doubt check off the age box in whatever way will give them access to the site.

Blocking Access

Well-known search engines and a number of Internet service providers have "parental locks" just like the V-Chip on televisions. The purpose of these is to block access to sites that have inappropriate content. Parents can set search engine home pages to only show acceptable results. There are usually degrees of "safety" that parents can set.

Parents also spend money on filtering programs like Norton Internet Security, K9 Web Protection, CyberSitter, and other similar products. While they are probably pretty effective, website filtering programs has its quirks too. An often-cited example is that the filters block medical or medical related websites such as thoat belonging to various breast cancer foundations because those sites make reference to body parts.

Getting More High-Tech

For an even more-high-tech solution, there are computer programs called keyloggers. Keyloggers record what has been typed on a keyboard and can regurgitate that information. In effect, keyloggers are allowing you} to find out what has been typed on a keyboard long after the typing is done. You should also be aware of other programs that can record everything that takes place on a particularcomputer including, instant Messanging discussions, e-mail messages, e-mails, email conversations sent and received, pictures saved, and sites visited. Some software even allows you to set up a system to let someone know when a violation has occurred such as a child visiting a site that a parent or guardian has restricted.

Any or all of the above ideas may contribute to a parent's overall strategy to protect his or her teens from the threats of the modern online world, but there is still one more suggestion that every parent should implement .

Creatively Solving The Problem

The most efficient solution is also the most obvious one, which means that is easily overlooked. Here it is in one sentence; it encourages family unity and it costs nothing. Ready? Put the computer smack dab in the middle of the main room of the house!

Do you need a minute to get over the shock of this idea? I warned you that the brilliance would be in the simplicity. Undoubetdly you can imagine the look of horror on your son's face and the screams of protest from your daughter that you are ruining her life and totally invading her privacy with this act of parental treason. You will have to put an end to the arguments that your kid's friend's parents let them have their net access in their own rooms.

Good parenting techniques should never be based on the neighbors and their behavior unless they happen to be exemplary role models as parents. In that case, I can practically guarantee that your their teenagers won't beg you to copy their parenting skills.

Parents, stay strong and don't be afraid to get that computer front and center in the parlor right now and you will never again have to wonder what your kids post on their MySpace pages and with whom they are chatting over IM.