How to Monitor Your Children's Internet Usage

Parents these days try to pay attention to their children's internet usage but it doesn't seem to be working out too well. Children get kidnapped every day, they get bullied on the web by their friends, they meet up with strange people who are too old for them to be seeing. Young teens especially have their pictures posted on websites when they probably shouldn't be and abuse from anonymous people takes place every day.

This abuse leads vulnerable teens and pre-teens into a world of a constant search for validation. They become addicted to the net not only to find friends and be appreciated but in a lot of cases to bully and abuse other teens so that they might feel better about themselves and join in on the hate to be seen as a stringer person.

So what can a parent do that they aren't already doing? It's not enough to block websites or ban your children from doing certain things on the net. Not every parent is a responsible adult. Not every parent has a responsible child. Your child could get on the internet at school. They could go to the library. They can get on the net at their friend's house. None of this is under your supervision so the real thing to do is come up with a plan to teach your child what to do in certain situations.

All children know what to do when someone asks them to get in their car that they don't know. They have all been told not to take anything from strangers or not to talk to them. Yet, children are still kidnapped every day. Some because these predators are skilled at finding kids alone and taking advantage, others because some children don't think they could ever be in danger. The trick is to really tell your children the reasons for your monitoring and put them on a schedule.

Here are some guidelines to follow when monitoring your children's internet usage.

1) The first thing to do is sit down with your children and discuss what's on the internet. Tell them about the dangers of predators, about the language that can and cannot be used, about the pictures that should not be viewed by them.