Keep Your Teens Safe on the Web

Teens these days can’t get away from the computer. It’s how they socialize, relax, entertain, comunicate and in some cases work. But, as is becoming more and more obvious, teens are having a hard time determining what information should be kept private. How To Deal With Teenagers offers 11 tips for parents, my favorites are listed here:

1. Your computer should be a in common area. Children should never have their own computer in their room. Put it in the living where you or your spouse can monitor the usage.

2. If your child is acting sneaky or anytime you walk by they are minimizing the screen chances are they are hiding something. Don’t hesitate to get on and find out what they are up to.

3. Know who your teens are talking to. Monitor their instant messaging and who is emailing your children.

4. If your child has MySpace (you may not even know they do) be sure to check it. Only allow actual “friends they know” on their page. Encourage them to NOT add people they do not know on their page. Keep their user name and password handy so you can get on to check. Eric knows part of letting him have a MySpace page is that I always have the user name and password. Create a MySpace page yourself so you can monitor your child from that as well.

Don’t let tragedy be your wake-up call.