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Internet Child Safety: Stop More Than Tongues from Wagging

Internet child safety is a growing concern for parents and guardians. We hear every day about the disappearance of a child due to communications online with a dangerous character. Sexual predators are in every room, and if they’re not it should be assumed they are and our child is at risk. Internet child safety should be considered a very serious element if your child uses the computer.

When thinking about “chatting”, we think about two people having a conversation and generally enjoying the company of another. However, unlike in a one-on-one situation, a predator is capable of becoming whoever they wish to be. They could become a fourteen year old with parents who are overbearing and abusive. Or they could become the mentor your child is seeking. In either case, or any other cases, a predator is still a predator and online they are faceless which makes internet child safety harder and more important.

When it comes to internet child safety, we all worry about predators who lure children in with illicit photographs, but we also need to worry about the predators who use your child’s insecurities and hopes to lure them into live meetings. Internet child safety is compromised by not understanding that despite how solidly your child’s head is on his or her shoulders, he or she is still a child and still capable of being manipulated. Trust is a fragile and sometimes dangerous thing.

You have two options. You can monitor your child’s chat activity or you can sit with them when they chat. Either way is very intrusive, but either way is imperative to internet child safety. You’ll want to invest in not just a monitoring system, but a parental control system that stays hidden. Let’s face it, your child probably knows more about the functions of a computer than you do. You want something they can’t find and disable.

Trust your child, but never trust a stranger. It’s a rule we follow in person and it should be a rule you follow online. Internet child safety can only be implemented by you.

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