What a tough time to be a parent. I don’t envy you your job in today’s high tech. world.
Overall, and as a parent myself, I think we need to watch our children’s internet usage very carefully. There are internet predators out there as well as things that we don’t need our children exposed to. Here are some tips:
- Keep the computer in a common area.
- Monitor what children are doing on the computer.
- Limit and manage computer time allowing for fun and learning.
- Have age appropriate talks about internet predators. The message you need to get across is that people are not always who they say they are.
- Especially for pre-teen, teen girls – Caution teens about exposing too much of their identity. Do not allow them to post things on MySpace accounts like, ‘I’m away now at softball practice, field #3 municipal lot.’- and don’t let them post inappropriate pictures online!
- Especially for pre-teen, teen boys – It is a federal offense to download and store pictures of teen girls. Normal though it may seem for a teen boy to be interested in a teen girl, (naked) it is still a federal offense to download pictures. (Even if the teen girl posted them online.)
The most common reason we see computers in the shop with teens in the house is viruses. If it hasn’t happened to you yet, you should get protected today. Eventually all teens seem to get on some computer and venture into a pit. Good virus protection, sometimes layers, will save you a lot down the road. Please call us for a solution that is right for your household.
