Internet Safety Is Something That All Parents Should Understand!

Internet safety for our children is so important! However, the problem we have today is that the parents of these digital native children sometimes lack the computer/internet skills that they need to understand and be aware of where their children are going on the web. When I was a child, and we won’t discuss how long ago that was, my parents didn’t have to worry or be concerned about where I was in the house. We were never in the house! We were outside creating adventures for ourselves. But when children are in the house today and on the computer, they are actually very far from the confinements of the 4 walls and roof that make up the buildings boundaries. Who are these parents that I am referring to in this blog? Well, it’s you and me and every other person who has a child. Even if you are a person who has computer knowledge, you may not fully understand the places your child is visiting on the web or who they can come in contact with. Not to add to the internet safety fire, but you also need to be aware of the cyber bullying that can happen from other kids at your child’s school.
I don’t want to paint the web as a place that our children should never go. That would be a tremendous mistake! Truthfully, you would never be able to prevent your child from accessing the internet. The best thing you can do is learn about internet safety so that you can teach your children about it as well. If you don’t, someone else will and that will most likely be their friends. Is that the way you want this to happen? I doubt it. Now we all have jobs and busy life styles, but I have a website that you can visit to teach yourself about this very important subject. Go to http://www.commonsensemedia.org/ to learn about this valuable topic.
Once you are on the Common Sense Media site, click on the “parent advice” link at the top of the page. Once there you will see several links to topics such as internet safety, digital citizenship, social networking and virtual worlds, and several other topics. You also have the ability to browse advice by grade level. However, once you click the internet safety link, you will see 39 tips about internet safety including video chatting, checking browser histories, internet filter tips, cyber bullying tips, social network tips, You Tube and your teen, online worlds discussion guide, video violence and the internet, safe and smart cell phone use for kids, should kids have computers in their rooms, as well as many other helpful tips.
Now, I could go on forever about this important topic, but if you made it this far, I doubt that you would want to read my incredibly dull writing style any further. My goal in this blog was to make you aware of the importance of internet safety and provide you with a site to learn the information you need to be an up to date wise decision making parent. I hope that I accomplished that.