Teens and the Internet

[Chloe Patterson]

I'm interested in what people think about monitoring what their kids get up to online. Some friends have used this kind of thing http://www.refog.com/keylogger.html but didn't actually look at it, the knowledge that it was there was enough to make thier kids think about what they were doing and it opened up a whole discussion about why they felt it was needed.My kids are starting to use the internet more and I can't always be in the same room as them (which is what I've done up until now). It's not that I don't trust them, it's their friends, I don't know enough about them to trust them and I don't think they're old enough to make the right judgements about certain sites/behaviours etc.

[Sixty Second Parent]

That is a dilemma I am sure many parents face Chloe. My daughter is 11 and goes to a Waldorf school, so has had limited time using the internet,  but it is coming. Thinking to the future, I am not so worried about what she does at home, but like you said it is more the influence of friends when she is away from home. Most of her friends so far go to the same school and most of their parents are pretty strict about the internet, but I know that won't always be true. I guess I need to continue to teach my daughter about media literacy, including not watching or participating in something she doesn't feel comfortable with.

[Chloe Patterson]

I suppose the key is to be open with them and try to make them aware of the dangers out there. It only takes one friend to show them something and I also think that there's a fine line between friendly teasing and bullying. When you're online you're a bit detached, you would maybe say things that you wouldn't say in real life. As adults we're aware of this, through experience, we just need to pass this on to them.

Thank you.

[brownl]

I don't agree with monitoring kids by spyware...of course, intention of parents is good, but when I thought if I monitored by others, I will feel terrible... so I uninstall the keylogger my wife installed on my son's computer. But really speaking,this application is not too bad to monitor http://www.anykeylogger.com/keylogger-for-mac.html.