Parents and Children online.

This is the 1st post in a long time and I commit to post more. I have also cleaned up some of the older posts. Online safety for children is a top priority for me and my family. I hope I can bring awareness to parents out there. That being said...
Being that I am an older brother and one of the oldest cousins of 22, I have always been somewhat protective the people I care for. Having been fully engaged in the internet revolution and being online for the last 18+ years of my life I have seen a lot out there. Those of you with teens that are frequently on the computer, REALIZE that your teens are undoubtedly smarter than you on the computer. Don’t despair, there is no reason you can’t catch up, or at least establish a few ground rules to get you in the game.
Here are someTips.
1 – Accounts: You should have a separate account for your child. DO NOT give this account admin rights. DO NOT give your child the admin accounts password. (Yes this means you will have to install his/her video games or applications with your ADMIN login)
2 – Instant messaging: Most IM programs will now offer to save a log of content to your harddrive. Yahoo: http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/messenger/messenger75/messenger/messenger-15.html MSN: cant find the link … but its in tools/options/ messages tab then click “automatically keep a history of my conversations” AIM: http://www.aim.com/didyouknow/imlogging.adp
3-Get a Tour: Have them show you the web from their perspective. Get a tour from your teen. You would be surprised at the world that is out there. What sites do they like to check out? Do they have a myspace page?
Side note: I am not encouraging that parents become spys, most of this stuff will be used when you need to react to something. Talk with your children, because if they find that you are (invading their privacy) their words…. It will be a lot harder to monitor them. Just a friendly warning from my inner 15 year old self. My next topics will be on Instant messaging, then on to Myspace, facebook and similar services. Till then Christian TechGuy is out.