The Risks to Children on Social Networking Websites

August 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Raising a child in the age of the Information Super Highway is harder than it seems. The more ease there seems to be for navigating your life online, the harder it is to keep your child away from some of the dangers that the internet provides. One of these possible issues is your child and the idea of social networking.

Social networking is as big as anything online today, such as the new Direct TV packages that has gathered several consumers. Millions and millions of people are getting more and more involved in sites where they can connect and reconnect with the people from their past and present. This might seem like a fun idea and activity for most adults but for children it poses a possible problem. There are more than a few traps to be careful of when dealing with your child and their entrance into the world of social networking.

The first is online sexual predators. You have seen the television specials about them and there are sites dedicated to stopping these online predators but you have to know that your kids are at risk by using social networking sites. These predators take the identity of someone younger to engage in online cyber sex or appear as a version of themselves offering money and anything else that might entice to kids in exchange for sexual favors. Everyone is at risk but kids are at severe risks for these sort of sexual predators.

The other problem kids face is more of a social issue as there is quite a bit of harassment that goes on through social networking sites. Kids, most specifically middle school children and high school age kids that are often the victims of online harassment. This is a continual and difficult problem for kids are there is also a social stigma attached to being a “snitch” so kids don’t feel comfortable telling figures of authority. However, it’s the constant harassment through messages and online postings that can cause kids to enter into a depression or in extreme situations commit suicide. These issues continue to be problematic as social networking continues to grow.

 

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The Internet is the New Way of Life

October 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Everyone has been affected by the Internet in some way or another. People do business, research, and even shopping online. Most companies have a website where they advertise their products and services and many schools even require their students to use online portals for school work. You can find information about anything online and it is the first place that most people look when they need to figure something out. The Internet is a big deal and something that is not going to be going away.

The Internet has made communication so much easier. People can get social networking accounts and follow each other’s blogs to keep in touch. They can use file sharing programs like Ares Galaxy from the open source Ares website to share and trade files.  Email is also another great communication tool that is made possible by the Internet. With the use of a webcam, people can even have video phone conversations which are more personal than email correspondences. It is no longer difficult for people who live far apart to keep in touch.

Another thing that you can do on the Internet, that a lot of people do not know about, is store all of your pictures, documents, music, videos, and files online. With online file storage you can be sure that your files will be kept safe and you can have access to them anytime you have an internet connection. It also helps to have a software program like File Zilla which you can download from the FileZilla website for free and use it to transfer files via FTP.  An online storage account offers a huge advantage over a flash drive. Flash drives can get lost, be stolen, or get damaged. Online storage has a lot of encryption that makes it impossible for people to steal your files and your information is stored on multiple servers so it can never get lost or damaged.

The Internet has also helped people stay on top of their bills. It is easy to set up automatic withdrawals and track statements online. People don’t even have to worry about paying bills on time when everything gets setup automatically. When the bill is due, it can simply be withdrawn from your bank account. And, as time goes on, more and more uses for the Internet will be thought up.


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Rules for Kids and Social Networking

August 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Kids are powering the social networking sites, there is little to no doubt about that. There are spending countless hours every day leaving messages for friends and uploading videos and music to their page. But is what they are doing really safe for them? And how do you, their parent, make sure they are being as safe as possible online?

Well if your child is old enough that they are a bit beyond the constant supervision you would like to give them then you have to just trust that you have done your job as a parent, however, if your child is still young enough where you okay and permission counts for everything then you might want to consider the following tips to keep your kids acting responsibly on social networking websites.

The first and most obvious choice is to create an account that you and your child share together. This of course means you can see everything they are doing and everything their friends are doing. The only two problems that arise from this idea is that your child now has access to everything you do and this eliminates your wish for privacy. The other problem with this is the immediate and heavy resistance your child will meet this decision with. This is, in effect, committing social suicide and therefore they might opt to not have one at all then have one with you.

The other option which might be met with a little less resistance is to allow your child to have their own account but be allowed to monitor it. This means establishing a set of ground rules that state that you must be able to see their entire account when necessary. You must have the same contacts your kid does your child must be able to tell you exactly how he knows of a certain person. This way it will keep away, or more accurately, help deter the presence of online predators. If your child cannot meet these conditions then you have to wonder if you can trust your child to do social networking at all.

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Rules for Kid’s Internet Usage

June 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

You cannot hide your kids from the internet. It is around them at school, at home, and will eventually be how they do everything. It is the most important part of their technological lives and so giving them exposure to it makes the most sense for their future. But you can’t like the idea of your kids strolling the internet being exposed to whatever pops up or whatever their friends turn them on to. This can be a scary thought for a parent and so you must take measures to make sure that your child doesn’t spend their days being influenced by images of sex and violence that you are not able to monitor.

The first thing you want to do is set the family computer in a visible place. Putting it in a childs room or allowing them to take a laptop into their room is a recipe for disaster. Even if you have set parental controls there is no way of telling whether or not the child has learned how to disable them.

If it’s in a good place it might be best to get a lock and key cabinet for it. This way the child can only have access to the computer when you are around and tell them it’s ok. This is important as a child needs boundaries.

If your child goes over to a friends house there is no way of knowing what they are going to be doing online. This is a great time for you to call the friends house and speak with their parent and have a frank conversation about how you allow your child to view the internet. Let them know that you are comfortable with however they let their kid use the internet but you are hoping they will respect your rules for your child’s internet usage. If they cannot then you need to let your child know that it will be difficult to let them go over to that persons house as their boundaries are different there than at your house. It’s not about punishment, it’s about safety.

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