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Five Secrets for Parents to Help Encourage Responsible Use of the Internet
by Marty W. Stewart
Children are increasingly using the Internet for schoolwork,
research, communicating through e-mail and live
chat, and downloading information like music files and
streamline video. As technology progresses and
children find even more need to use the Internet,
parents must develop clear-cut and consistent rules
while children are online.
Establishing these rules can be quite a challenge for many
parents. Since most children over the age of 10 or 11
probably know more about the Internet than mom or dad, it's
imperative that parents continue to absorb what is
available to children and communicate and teach
responsibility while spending time online.
Many parents want to rely solely on content filtering software
or kid-safe Web sites, but many times this is just not enough.
As children grow with the ever-changing online landscape,
parents must make sure children are prepared to handle the
content increasingly available to them.
Here are five secrets parents can use to encourage safe and
responsible use of the Internet:
- Place your family's computer in a room in the house that is
centrally located and easy for parents to walk by to monitor
or participate in what a child is viewing. It is recommended
not to let a child have a computer in his/her room or behind
closed doors. This will only contribute to a child's false sense
of security while on-line and hinder parents' efforts to stay
involved in what children are doing while using the computer.
- Limit the amount of time a child spends on-line. Like any
other activity, using the Internet should be done in
moderation and not interfere with other healthy activities for
children. Once a child chooses to spend time on-line rather
than interacting with other children face-to-face, or his/her
other interests seem to always come second to the
computer, then it may be time to review with the child how
important is to show moderation while enjoying the Internet.
- Spend time with children online. Get involved with a child's
interests on the Internet. If a child is chatting with friends,
e-mailing jokes back and forth, or playing on-line games, a
parent must keep up to date on the various goings on. Sit
down and observe what children are using the computer for.
Parents need to help children explore the vast resources of
the Internet, and educate them on what the Internet has to
offer. Surfing the Internet with a child or establishing a joint
e-mail account between parent and child will also help
parents stay in touch.
- Monitor what your children are doing and where they are
going while online. This can be the trickiest of challenges for
parents, but it is so vital to make sure children do not stray
into areas of the Internet that contain inappropriate and
possibly harmful material. If a child strays from pre-
designated safe Web sites, parents should use healthy
parenting skills such as reinforcing agreed upon parameters,
perhaps even taking away online privileges as a natural
consequence of not following rules.
- Set up a "responsible use contract" between parents and
children. Sending e-mail, surfing the Web and downloading
files are all activities that children will be doing while
connected to the Internet and parents need to make
agreements with children on responsible behavior. By
establishing the rules of responsible use early, there should
be no confusion as to what is considered responsible and
safe use of the Internet. (A FREE "contract" is available at
http://www.ResponsibleKids.net/contract.htm)
The Internet offers children unprecedented access to
incredibly valuable information and it's up to parents to
promote responsible online use.
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if you have any questions or comments!