INTERNET ABUSE BY TEENS

Internet is a wonderful form of technology. It provides information, which is helpful to your child in his studies and also gather general knowledge. The amount of resources and information the Internet contains is astounding. With the help of information collected on the net your child gains vast knowledge. Parents and children together can work to make the Internet a positive experience. However left alone your child can misuse this wonderful knowledge bank and with no rules or regulations, teens can discover surreptitiously how to commit crimes, see things they ought not to see and chat with people of questionable character. Thus you as a parent must take precautions to see that you child does not abuse the internet access.

Educate yourself about the net

It is very essential for you to know about computers and be familiar with World Wide Web. Nothing can be more intimidating than a child knowing more about computers and internet than their parents, and often this is what happens with today's parents who probably know very little about internet than their children. Thus consider this aspect as to how you can know if something is amiss if you don't know or understand your child's online activities? Ask your child to show you what they know about the Internet and find out the sites they like to visit. Check out the contents of the site and ensure that it is appropriate for your kid.

Close monitoring and forbidden access

The location of your home computer may make a huge difference in the type of Web content your child reads and surfs. If possible, put your home computer in the living room, family room or some high traffic area of your house so that you can always monitor the internet access. This will restrict your teen to abuse the internet access and if your teen knows at any given moment that someone may approach the computer while they are surfing the net, they will be more cautious and careful of their online activities. Try to avoid allowing your child to have a computer with Internet access in their room. However if you feel strongly about your child having a computer with internet access in their bedroom, make sure they keep their door open while they are online so that you can monitor their online activities.

The next step is to set up rules and guidelines that your child must adhere to when surfing the net or engaging in online activities. Make it clear that they are not allowed to go into unmonitored or private chat rooms to chat with strangers. Secondly monitoring where your child has been on the Internet. Restrict their amount of online "play" time. In addition to monitoring programs, you must also install blocking or filtering software. Become familiar with these two types of programs. Blocking software generally blocks unwanted or restricted Web sites from being accessed. Filtering software allows you to program prohibited keywords such as XXX, sex, adult, guns, bombs and cults.

Standard Internet Safety

Another important thing that you need to teach your teen is standard internet safety. Such internet safety includes · Under no circumstance your teen should give anyone his or her name, address or telephone number. · Instruct your teen never to meet anyone in person whom they've met on the Internet, UNLESS you can accompany them to this meeting. If you do agree to let your teen meet someone in person, make sure you get this person's name, address, telephone number and any other important information. It's also a good idea to talk with the parents of the teen your child wants to meet and make sure the meeting takes place in a public place.