With the number of internet predators increasing every day, and their tactics for luring innocent children getting more intense, it’s important to educate and keep an eye on your kids while they’re surfing the web. The dangers of web browsing can be very apparent from things displayed on the news as well as directly online. Most parents will not want their children browsing unattended but simply cannot supervise them constantly to make sure they’re not encountering any danger.
There are many types of PC monitoring software specifically designed for parental guards. Most software will come with these options:
- Email Monitoring – View sent and received emails.
- Website History Tracker – See what websites were visited and for what period of time.
- Chat Log Tracker – Read conversations between the child and anyone they may have added.
- Website Blocker – Make certain websites inaccessible or restricted.
With many parents concerned about young children being exposed to pornographic material, they can set blocks for sites that have explicit tags. At the end of a computer session, the information can be pulled up through the program itself. Most programs will tell what websites your child has visited, how long they were on there, and if they opened up any other programs while they were visiting; this can include pop-ups.
If any potentially dangerous sites appear in the web history, such as chat lines or sharing sites, a parent could then turn to any instant messengers that may be installed on the computer. If any suspicious or vulgar conversations happened, the chat log could be exported to an email or a portable flash drive and delivered to the police for further action.
The parental PC monitoring software could also be beneficial in discovering potential bullying. A large majority of teens and young adults will not admit that they are being harassed or bullied. In some cases, parents don’t know that their own child may be the bully.
Many adults, as well as children, teens, and young adults, rely on the internet for their bad deeds because of the anonymity of it. It’s important to keep your own children anonymous by ensuring their pictures, phone numbers, or addresses are not posted anywhere public, which could expose them to danger.
It is up to the parent to monitor their child’s online activity and keep them safe. Sometimes, a little extra software is all it takes.
