Some parents are moving to monitoring software like WebWatcher to keep up with their children’s activity online. Are you one of the many who use programs like this to keep an eye on your child’s internet activity? If you aren’t, should you be?
Parents have always been tasked with the duty of keeping their children safe, but as the world has changed, so has this duty. Technology has helped, with cell phones making it possible to keep contact with your child when he or she is out of your sight, but technology has also opened new problems for keeping children safe.
The internet itself is a whole new playground. It’s full of information, games, music, and everything else your child is interested in, but it’s also full of hazards that unaware children could stumble upon, inadvertently placing themselves in danger.
What dangers are there online?
StaySmart lists a few: sexual predators, online bullying, inappropriate content, and privacy breaches.
The advice to parents used to be, as the Happy Herald describes, to keep the computer in a central room of the house where parents could see what was being done. They recommended constant monitoring, walking through the room while the child used the computer, and in general, direct visual supervision. A child who changed the screen or turned off the monitor when a parent entered the room was considered a cause for concern, as was a child who wouldn’t let the parent read conversations on the screen.
Today, your teenager probably has a smartphone, a tablet, a portable music player (such as an iPod), perhaps a separate e-reader, and at least one video game system that can access the internet.
What this means for you is that your child has extremely portable internet access at all times. If your household even still has a desktop computer, as opposed to individual laptops, keeping it in sight won’t keep your child’s internet access in sight.
On her phone or tablet, your child can access a number of apps and sites linked to cyber-bullying, sexting (sending sexual photos or messages), and other privacy dangers.
Can you really insist that your child’s phone use be only within your sight? After all, you very likely bought your children the device in the first place so they could check in with you when they are at school functions, or when you are at work.
As for your child’s tablet, even if they are using it in the same room with you, the screen is in their lap, only minimally visible to anyone who isn’t positioned right next to them.
If constant visual contact and proximate supervision are out of the question, what does that leave for parents to do to protect their children?
One method some parents are turning to is electronic monitoring through programs such as WebWatcher.
Bear in mind that WebWatcher is one of the more extensive programs for electronic monitoring, and that there are a wide variety of simpler programs that do less, but for the sake of covering all that monitoring software can do, we’ll use WebWatcher as an example.
The Police warns that some concerning signs regarding your child’s safety include large amounts of time spent online at night or when you’re not around, pornography on their computers (which the predators may send in order to gain control of your kids), phone calls to or from people you don’t know, or the use of an account in someone else’s name.
With a program like WebWatcher, you can access your child’s e-mails, see what sites she has visited, and even read their conversations. It can be installed on many types of devices, including computers, smartphones, and tablets, and information can even be accessed remotely. You can set the software to e-mail you if certain alert words are typed, too, so that, for instance, you are aware the moment your teenager agrees to send the guy online (who she thinks is 16 like her but who is actually 48) a topless photo.
WebWatcher suggests that parents shouldn’t think of this as an invasion of privacy, but instead, as protective monitoring.
Indeed, keeping access to your child’s online accounts is one of the pieces of advice that has been given, along with keeping communication lines open, asking your child about what he or she is doing online, using parental controls and other protective software, and explaining dangers to your child.
Many parents think this type of software is going too far, and that communication and trust are enough. But keeping track of your child’s activity online (and keeping them out of danger) is always important, so the onus is on parents to decide whether software like WebWatcher is just the right amount of parental protection. This dynamic company encourages readers to connect with them via their LinkedIn page
