These days, in the face of overwhelming and lightning quick technology, there is added pressure on parents to keep their children safe. When it comes to the Internet there is no shortage of places where children might feel threatened or in danger. Parents, who also lead busy lives, struggle to keep up with everything there child is going through. Sometimes it’s things the parent misses and other times it’s things that a child doesn’t want to come forward with.
Online there are sexual predators and there are other harmful people, but they do not often pose the biggest threat to children and teens. Often times it’s their peers who can cause a significant amount of physical and mental damage. A parent might not be aware of the damage taking place until a child is much older.
So the question for the parent is how to keep a child safe in an increasingly unsafe online world. Of course parents want to establish boundaries for their children, but those boundaries are difficult to regulate as the online world is simply not a luxury but a growing permanent part of their world and their identity.
While the challenges are present for parents, they can be overcome by a strict set of rules about the usage and the privacy of their online world. For instance, it’s a good idea to monitor the children’s time on the computer. Allow the computer to be password protected by the parents and restrict access throughout the day. Allow only access at night, for a limited time, and only after assigned chores and tasks are completed.
Of course a parent must protect their children from sneaking online looks by restricting Internet access on their smart phones. These days Internet access is available on the latest smart phones, but there is often no need for a child to have that kind of access. Parents must protect children at all costs, especially online.