Internet Monitoring & Parental Control:
When protecting their children from internet predators or unsafe behavior, the first step for parents is to get over their fear of monitoring them. Parental Control and Internet Monitoring is essential to good parenting in this day and age!Parents must learn how to monitor internet activity, whether or not they use monitoring software such as keyloggers and the like. Whether you agree with using internet monitoring software or parental control software or not, parents must acknowledge that internet safety is crucial. It is a parent's job to protect their children and foster a healthy, safe lifestyle. It is a parent's job to watch over them and be there to correct potential bad decisions that are all too common in a teenager's life. Different parents may choose different degrees of monitoring, some manual and some with the help of monitoring software, but all parents need to deploy some strategy to monitor online behavior. What level of monitoring a parent may choose will depend on the parent, the child, and the relationship. Some parents dont have the skills to use internet monitoring software, keystroke loggers, etc. so they need other options. SpyOnYourKids.net helps parents that can use monitoring software as well as those that want a more hands on approach. One thing should be clear, it is OK to monitor your children. If you feel uneasy about this or you think it is wrong to monitor myspace activity for example , you may some day regret it.
For more information on the debate of "to spy or not to spy," feel free to read two compelling articles written exclusively for SpyOnYourKids.Net right here.
There are two basic things a parent needs to protect their child from on the internet: predators and bad behavior. The first one is obvious. The second one is not so much caused by the internet, but is divulged through the teen's use of the internet. You may not know that your child is engaged in sex, drinking, or drugs, but chances are you can find out through their MySpace pages. You can use internet monitoring software or engage in a stealth operation social media invasion! The teen may post blatant photos (see some examples that may surprise you), or the content may be cryptic and difficult for a parent to understand (see some good lingo examples).The easiest way to achieve a high level of internet safety is by parental monitoring.
Remember, it is a parents job to watch over their children and protect them. Teens, by nature, do make bad decisions. Straight "A" students heavily active in sports and study have become victims. Why? Because they just didn't realize that what they were posting online intrigued a predator. They weren't aware that that predator could "connect the dots" to determine where the teen lived, worked, and played.
Two Effective Parental Control Spying Techniques for Parents to Monitor Internet ActivityLOW LEVEL PARENTAL MONITORING: MySpace Internet Monitoring
This strategy for MySpace safety is geared toward parents that are quite sure they have an honest and open relationship with their child. The parent(s) are sure that their teen would not hide anything from them and would be open to sharing their online activity with their parents.
Caveat: Parents, whether they can admit it or not, are usually gullible to this scenario. It feels good to think that you have this type of relationship with your teen, but all too often you don't. The teen may be a great kid that does little wrong, but remember that most teens that get into trouble were once good kids. Step by Step Low Level Internet Monitoring Strategy can be read by clicking here.
HIGH LEVEL PARENTAL MONITORING: MySpace Spying
The high level strategy is for those parents that are in one or more of the following situations:
- Their child will not allow them to see their MySpace profile, so parental monitoring is difficult
- Their child is hiding the fact that they have a MySpace profile
- The child has been in situations in the past that involve dishonesty (so even if they allow the parents to see a MySpace profile, it may not be their only MySpace profile)
- The teen is suspected of bad behavior, such as drug use, drinking or sex
- Monitoring software may be the only solution in some cases, but there are other options!
Warning: Always read and abide by the MySpace terms of service agreement.
High Level MySpace Spying Strategy: Spy on Your Kids
