On average a child spends more than one-third of his time using a computer. Children play games on it for entertainment and fun. In addition, they enjoy watching movies and their favorite soap operas on a computer, in privacy away from the gaze of their parents. Finally, schools are increasingly using it as an effective tool for education. Teachers take classes online and assignments are submitted digitally.
Above all, many parents push their kids to use a computer in order to improve their life skills. With the increase in time spent by a child in front of a computer, it is important for parents to secure their activities on it. After all, every parent worries about his or her child falling into a wrong trap.
Why is it Important to Secure Kids from Computers?
As parents take the extra effort to please their technology hungry children, by buying for them computers and other smart devices, the purchases come with worry. In other words, while technology undoubtedly has a positive impact on young minds, it leaves parents anxious too. After all, you have to pay a price for everything good. On the one hand, there is a huge satisfaction, parents get when their kids learn new skills using modern gadgets. Parents worry about the use of technology for the wrong reasons.
- Parents love pampering their technology hungry kids.
- Gifting computers and smart devices to young kids is very common.
- Using computers is very beneficial for a kid.
- Spending time in front of a computer comes with worry for the parents.
- Kids are at risk of exposure to unsuitable content.
Is Monitoring a Child’s Computer Unethical?
This is not about spying on your child. For instance, a kid may not be able to handle cyber-bullying due to a lack of knowledge about the medium. That’s where parental control becomes important. In the world where there was no smart technology when children came back scared after a bout of bullying in school, they felt safe at home. Unfortunately, in today’s world, bullying can follow them everywhere – if not physically, then psychologically. Therefore, the role of parents becomes crucial.
- Monitor kid’s computer activities are not the same as spying with an app as described on the site Parental Control Now
- It is important for parents to protect their kids from cyber-bullying.
- Parents must also secure their kids from exposure to unsuitable content.
- Parents have a critical role to play in shielding their child when he or she uses a computer.
What all does a Kid Need Protection from?
Kids need protection from a number of activities when they use a computer or any internet-enabled device. Similarly, kids must not write or receive any form of text or photographs which are not appropriate. Therefore, it is important to secure his or her personal account. For instance, if something wrong has gone out of your child’s account without his or her consent, it is likely that the account has been hacked. Finally, a young mind needs protection from cyber-bullying. In other words, there are always people around who leave no opportunity to intimidate or threaten a child psychologically.
- Shield the kid from porn material on the internet.
- Secure his or her personal account.
- Protect your kid from cyber-bullying.
Securing a Computer
With the increasing exposure of children to the internet, the risk of them spending time on content deemed unhealthy or unsuitable for their age has also increased. Furthermore, the old traditional habit of having one family computer has become redundant with the technology putting the internet into children’s pockets through smartphones.
- Kids risk getting exposed to inappropriate content on the computer.
- With technology easily available it is important to use more technology to keep a child safe.
How to Monitor Computer Activities?
Protecting a child from the misuse of smart technology is also called childproofing the internet. In other words, it means securing a child’s activities on a computer. Though parents cannot make internet kids safe per se’, they can at least make it difficult for them to be exposed to unsuitable and illegal content. In addition, steps that are taken to childproof the internet also protect them from the dangers of using the computer when parents aren’t around to supervise them. There are various ways to make computers safe for them.
Web Filtering
This is the most effective precaution to safeguard kids from misusing the computer. All that a parent needs to do is set-up web filtering on the router with open DNS. This can filter internet content on multiple devices simultaneously.
- Web filtering allows parents to filter websites that can be accessed.
- Multiple devices can be web-filtered simultaneously.
Parental Controls
Parental control is yet another way to filter web content based on the account used for browsing the internet. This feature in computers allows a parent to set a time limit on the usage of the account. In addition, it allows a parent to filter which applications and games a child can run on the computer. Through this function, a parent can restrict the permission to install and open apps, and block the user from performing certain specific tasks such as video chats.
- Filters web content based on the account used.
- It checks games and applications accessed by the child.
- Restricts permissions to install and open certain apps.
Privacy Settings of Social Media Accounts
Parents whose kids use social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter among others must review the privacy settings of these accounts. For instance, the parent can either become an admin of the account or restrict access to it.
- Monitor social media accounts of the child.
- Become the admin of the account.
- Restrict access to viewing to specific groups of people.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while technology has come as a boon for kids, it has some inherent drawbacks too. Therefore, it is important for parents to keep a check on the way it is being used by their kids. After all, computers don’t come with a guarantee that your child will not get exposed to unsuitable content and bullying.
