Parenting online behaviour

Does your child spend all the free time online? Tabs off the windows, seeing you coming? Or, remains detached from the family? If yes; beware! He might be on his way to indulge in cyber addiction.

Online safety of the kid is every parent’s job, as it might just also be an inception of substance abuse or porn addiction. Themedguru attempts to show you the possible ways to save your child from this threat.

The foremost step should be, handling the issue with love and guidance, which can help you carry out the monitoring process of your kid’s online activities smoothly, and help him have a decent online behavior without any resistance from his side.

First, let us just try to understand the roots behind the problem.

Understanding the Problem?

Adolescents are often intrigued by the world of the Internet. Nowadays, it has become quite easy to get your hands on sexually explicit material, to meet people you would not have met otherwise, and to create a whole new world for yourself, online.

Because your child may be curious about this kind of stuff, they will sometimes use their online access to seek out such materials and individuals. Online predators targeting adolescents will use and exploit this curiosity to attract and lure potential victims.

Finding out the online behavior of your child can be quite tricky, as many of the signs exhibited by adolescents can be typical, while in some other cases they behave like any normal teenager.

The January, 2009 issue of Archives of Paediatric & Adolescent Medicine says, social networking sites are venues where young people channel their images and ideas, connecting with peers as they try on different identities, where they can get into trouble believing what they put on their profiles remains anonymous.

Chose the Wisest Option and Proceed Gradually

To counter online threats, using online safety tools can help you in the initial stage. Regular guidance and check on the child’s online activities is the key to online safety. Warn him or her about the malicious web content and associated dangers.

Educating adolescents about the potential dangers online is the parent’s job. Knowing the warning signs and recognizing improper online behaviour which leads to practices of unsafe online use, is critical to keeping your child safe online.

It is possible to view the web history of sites that your children have visited from your home computer and network. Web history may help you keep track of your child’s online activities.

Kids need safe search engines to use when they are researching information online. Those ones that can be safely monitored are best preferred. Parents need to closely monitor their children's activities online as well as offline.

A survey commissioned by Cox Communications found that only a fewer teens whose families have talked to them about online safety have an IM name or pictures of themselves on the Internet. Teens, who shared their online activi, also ignore messages from unfamiliar people, refuse to reply or chat, block unknown senders, and report these occurrences to trusted adults.

Themedguru found through a poll conducted by it that around 55 percent people believe in guiding the children over online content and 45 percent believe in encouraging outdoor activities over internet. None of the parents opted for disconnecting the internet service or secretly monitoring the child’s online activities, in order to cope with child’s cyber addiction

Communication has always been the best way to resolve any conflict or a problem, so, talking to your children about web world and not suppressing their online activities is probably the best way to deal with potential their cyber addiction.

Let Us Brief up on the Do’s for Parents

To start with, parents need to talk to the child and always keep informing the kid about the online threats. You can spend time with the child when he is online and also learn about his or her favourite websites.

Decide if you want to use parental control software on your home computers and appropriate settings for your children. You can also seek help from websites like GetNetWise and The Parent's Edge.

Discuss with the child why it is never a good idea to meet someone face to face, when one only have met online or to wander around open chat rooms talking to people you don't know. Tell them how people can be deceptive and misleading online.

Always maintain an access to your child's online account and check your child's e-mail frequently. Let your child know about your access, because secretly monitoring may invite resistance from him later. Teach your child to use the Internet responsibly. Make them aware that there is more to experience online than chatting.

Keep the computer in a common room in the house, not in your child's bedroom. When the computer screen is visible to parents, it is difficult for a child to visit sites they should not be visiting, and having too intimate or personal conversations, view sexually explicit material or have conversations pertaining to sex.

Remember that your child’s safety is your duty and if you confide with the kid, there are less chances of him going astray. You should try to keep vigilance on your child from time to time and he should know that. This will help in controlling the kid’s online behaviour.

Have a happy net surfing with your kids.