Do You Know What Your Child is Doing?

Well my kids are still young and only my oldest uses the internet right now. He 7 1/2. He can go to webkinz.com, nick.com and cartoonnetwork.com and his comcast email. His email is to only be used to email his father who is stationed overseas in Italy. I always look over his shoulder although he gets irritated by it. The computer he uses is in the living room so we can see it all. He doesn't have a messenger or anything like that. I made shortcuts for the four websites he's allowed to use and put them on his desktop and that's all he is going to be using. If he tries anything else after we set the rules and brief him every time he logs on, then he will lose internet privileges for awhile.

hhmm..this is interesting! i mean getting the idea what parents think about their children lol! as am still 17, i think you're doing the right thing! but i think blocking messenger is...Limit-exceeded? dont you think? anyways, good luck for further spying :P

M chidren are NOT allowed online unless I am home and I type the web address that they are going to visit. I only let them visit age appropriate websites so that I know that they wont see anything they are not saposed to.

I kind of let the kids do want they want on the computer...since they are now 29, 30 and 32. LOL Seriously, I insist that the grandkids be supervised at all times when on the computer, not just the internet but on the computer since even the 3 year old knows how to sign on to the internet. There is just too much garbage out there that kids don't need to see. I've even extended my censorship to TV, if I think a show or movie one of the adults in the house is inappropriate for kids, I speak up. I ask the child's parent if it's ok for their child to watch it. If they say no, I ask the adult to go watch it in their room or change the channel. I believe you, as the parent, are the best equipped to decide what is appropriate for your children and what privileges they can and can't have.

Hear Hear! Well said! My sister has five young ones at home and she moved the computer in to the dining room. Each child is allowed to use the internet for no more than 30 minutes per day and there must be a grown up in the room when the computer is on. It is so important to be responsible with internet use - there are far too many predators out there.

My 5 yr.old is just learning to use the computer for games.....and with me on children sites like sesamestreet, nickjr, and the pbs.....I think it is important for him to begin learning..... I use parental controls on his satellite television in his room, though...so I know I will do the same when he is old enough for internet usage is a concern..

i don't have a child yet but i know when i have one, i will have a complete parental control on what my kids are doing on the computer... it is very vital especially in this modern world where everything is so easy to be grabbed from the internet that we know what our children are doing there... they can misuse it or abuse it if we don't watch them carefully especially when they are still young...

My children are still young - ages five, six and seven - but we have very firm Internet rules in place (we started thinking about this when the youngest was three): * the computer will be in a prominent place in the house * each child will have a specific amount of time they can use the computer * all their activity will be monitored, including site searches and email use * we already have a ban on video games * if they don't like the over-the-shoulder policy, they won't use the computer We have seen issues with preditors effecting nieces, nephews and cousins in the family and, if these kind of rules were in place, they wouldn't have been victomized (sp?). We're sure more rules will be in place as they get older, but we thought this was a good foundation to start with. Several have already told us we're being too strict, but this usually comes from parents who are too passive and their kids end up in trouble.

Why not install a program like Naomi. Search for Naomi freeware internet filter. It examines all internet traffic (be it websites, chat etc.) and closes the application it detects contains inappropriate content. For example, a swear word in Yahoo Messenger immediately closes Yahoo Messenger. The effect should be that your children will think that "you" know what they're doing and "you're" taking control of what they do on the computer. Children by nature will act innocent and pretend that nothing happened. With luck, they'll not wander back... if they do, the application will be terminated again...