We use computers for our day to day work and we really do a whole lot of work through it. It does not matter with us how we use our computers for at this stage in our life we have nothing to lose but the thing that concerns me the most is a simple question. The question is if computers are harming our children or youngsters. We elders in the form of father, mother, uncle very eagerly bring computer in our homes, but very often then not, it becomes a hectic job to control our children from overusing or misusing them. Sometimes the situation becomes so worse that they get totally addicted with it that it becomes almost impossible for us to divert their mind on other activities. Today computers and Internet has reached to such a level of popularity that more often then not we, including our youngsters want to always spend most of our precious time with it. Unfortunately, there are whole lot of stories involved with computers and Internet and not to mention a whole range of incidences are also there happening day in and day out. Chatting, surfing are one of our daily activities and as a result of these there are regularly whole range of new sites coming up everyday regularly. Yes, I agree with you that most of these sites are good and they help us in one way or the other but we cannot ignore the fact that there are a whole bunch of sites which exist parallel to these good sites and they harm us, mostly our youngster and our children. Therefore, it is high time for us to take this issue seriously and do our level best to know what our children doing on the net or perhaps their net habits so that we can stop them from becoming a prey to these under grade sites or falling under the trap of some strangers who has some ill motive behind.
Let's start with the simple discussion of chat rooms and instant message service. I agree that it has positives and most of us like to spend a whole lot of our devoted time in doing so, but stop, think for a while are these equally good for our children. Our children, at this tender stage of their life hardly knows what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad, and what are dos and what are don'ts. Feeling very sad to say that there are certain range of people in this world who always try to take advantage of this situation, and we are quite acquainted with their activities and motives as we regularly see and hear incidences of these huge menace in the newspaper and the television. Now, I am most probably going to suggest you some ways and methods through which we can keep our children safe from all these worst thing from happening.
1) First of all, make sure to place your computer in such a place of your house from where you can easily make out what your child is doing on the computer or in the net for keeping computers in close environment like a separate room will not help the cause of your child as the proverb goes an empty mind is just like a devil's workshop. So always make sure not to let your child remain along with the computer for long hours when is connected with Internet.
2) Don't forget to check out the browser's history to keep track of the sites your child is often visiting and if you are a novice with the computer then always seek the help of some one who have some idea of computers in this case. This is one of the most effective ways to know the surfing habit of your child and definitely keep things under your control.
3) Always make sure that your child never chats or surfs with someone whom he or she doesn't know for a long period of time and try to explain him or her the possible causes behind this in a simple but effective way. If you do this I am sure that your child would understand why you want him to do so.
4) Make sure to know the gender, age, and if possible the complete profile of the person with whom your child likes to chat very often and in this way you remain updated about your child's list of friends on the net, which is a very important to follow.
5) Educate and explain him/her not to submit his/her personal details to anyone on the net as anyone could misuse the information and if you could do this half of your headache regarding your child's safety is gone.
6) Moreover, also inform him/her not to share his/her passwords or bank accounts information or credit card information on the net as this things are for personal use and not to be shared with any strangers whom you don't know.
7) If possible try to sit beside your child, of course not at the level of annoying him/her, when he or she is chatting or surfing on the net to keep a better check on him or her.
8) Now-a-days, even filtering software is available, you can directly download it from the Internet or purchase it from computer software manufacturer. But you cannot totally rely or depend on it and it is you, who, have to take the initiatives to follow these instructions mentioned by me above.
Finally, one thing I would like to suggest that being very strict on our child and forbidding them from doing something sometimes results in their curiosity to know about the thing and they want to do the thing when they get the chance for it so it's a big challenge on us to make them understand and explain things patiently rather than forcing them or scolding them to follow the things which we want. But it doesn't matter so long as they are following the precautions and we being able to keep track on their Internet habits. Gradually there will be a stage when they will realize that we do these things for their safety and so that they could breed and groom in a healthy environment far from the clutches of evil.