How to Ensure Online Kids Safety

Parents with young ones need to be aware of the Internet activities of their children. Many parents have children just on the verge of being old enough to start using the Internet and they might not have considered how they're going to ensure online kids safety. Here are a number of guidelines to help ensure child safety online.

Step 1 If the parent isn't already familiar with the Internet, now is the best time to update their skills and learn what they can. A solid understanding of technologies such as: instant messaging, e-mail, text messaging, forums, chat rooms, and social networking sites like MySpace will all be important for helping to ensure online kids safety.

If some outside training is required you can check at your local library or community center where they often have classes teaching internet usage and safety.

Step 2 Create a list of acceptable online behavior for your children. For instance, in the beginning you may insist that the Internet may only be used while accompanied by a parent or guardian. This would be useful for guiding your child through their ‘first-time’ experiences online and making sure that they develop good habits.

Step 3 Keep the family computer in a centralized location to help ensure that your kids online behavior is being observed. You don't need to stand over them 24/7, but just knowing that you are there will make them less likely to search the web for inappropriate content.

Step 4 It will be difficult to keep track of what your children are doing online at ALL times so it's advisable to install an Internet control software program. This will help to ensure online kids safety. Your Internet security software should include stealth mode, key logger for storing passwords, website history, and some method of taking screen-shots at designated intervals or times. It would also be useful to have software capable of monitoring specific behavior on social networking sites.