Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Do Your Kids Spend Too Much Time Online?

Do your kids spend too much time online? 

Since they were born in the time when computers and internet are more common in the household, young kids and teens nowadays can even boast that they have more knowledge in these stuff compared to what their patents know.

There was a time when my boys became so addicted with online gaming that I really had to put my foot down and give them a set of new rules when it comes to spending time online. I told them that they can play games on weekends but never on weekdays. I can sense that the game is so addicting, that's why I don't want them to start playing on weekdays. 

One of my daughters also like to browse a lot and participate in social networking sites like Friendster and Myspace. I talk to her about the importance of not disclosing private information about herself and our family. 

I told them that the reason we bought computers for them and had the internet installed is not just for leisure purposes. It is something that is suppose to help them with their school projects and assignments and not distract them. Of course, I still try to give them a room for fun.  But as much as possible, I see to it that there are other fun activities at home that they can do offline. 

Do you check your kids' online activities?

An internet user can visit any sites he wants. The website can't accurately determine the age of the visitors. As parents, we know that there are sites that our kids are not suppose to visit. We have to openly communicate with our children what's allowed and what's not. I personally think that it's a good idea to block certain websites. I am not a techie mom and I admit I also need help when it comes to this. You can find a lot of tips and ways online on how to block access to certain websites. 

1 comments:

  1. Some time ago my child spent all his free time surfing the web. When my son began refusing to leave the computer for the dinner table, things came to a head. My husband and I decided to restrict Internet access. I bought internet filtering software called Ez Internet Timer. It can stop all children’s on-line activity and block Internet browsers, e-mails, ftps or messengers according to my daily schedule.

    But today Internet contains an enormous amount of information that can be offensive to adults, and unsuitable and sometimes downright dangerous to children, so we are thinking about purchasing of another application from IT Works Corporation - Ez Parental Control (powerful and very easy). It will protect my child by restricting access to any website url such as adult content.
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