It starts in infancy. The toys of today are basically all computers. Push a button, hear a cow moo. Push another and hear how an “A” sounds. Computers are a part of our life and it starts earlier than you think. My kids started playing on a real computer at age 2. I bet many of your kids started even earlier than that.
As children get older, they move into…yes, you guessed it…Social Networking. Before you know it, your child will ask for a Facebook page.
Like it or not, kids social lives include Facebook. A Symantec study shows that kids spend nearly 40 hours a month online!
In order to take advantage of the opportunities online, children need to act responsibly with your involvement and guidance to help the make the right choices. Follow some of these guidelines:
Make and Explain why there are online rules. Online rules are essentially the same as other “stranger/danger” rules. You wouldn’t befriend a stranger on the street, so don’t befriend a stranger online. Also stress the importance of never giving out passwords to anyone (except you of course).
Keep tabs on what they’re doing online. OnlineFamily.Norton is a free service that lets you monitor your kids online activities through alerts sent to your email or mobile phone. Rather than just blocking certain sites, this service is designed to foster communication between you and your kids when they are breaking the rules.
Make sure you are their Friend online. As an online “friend,” you can actually learn more about them and their interests. Also befriend their friends if you can. That way you’ll know what is happening in their social circles at school.
Know their passwords. Make sure you know all your children’s passwords so you can check up on them at times.
As an advocate for live-in childcare utilizing an au pair, I know there are advantages to having an au pair with your children at home. An au pair will monitor your children’s computer use just like you would. With an au pair home while your children are doing their homework, there is an adult dedicated to supervising their computer time.
Of course, the au pair will not watch their every key-stroke, but an au pair will walk through the room, just as you would, and casually glance at the computer to make sure it is being used properly.
Because computer usage is beginning at such early ages, let’s take advantages of the opportunities and protect our children from the dangers.
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