Local families take steps to ensure online safety
We asked members of The Spokesman- Review’s Parents’ Council, via e-mail, what they do to make sure their kid is safe online. While some use filtering software and several say they check Internet histories, all of them say they talk to their kids about Internet dangers.
As John Irby of Pullman put it, “… the topic seems to come up quite often, given the state of the news today.”
Irby’s family keeps the computer in the family room where everyone can see it, but he admitted that he’s still probably not doing enough to ensure his kids are safe online.
“But we do talk with them. I asked my 16-year-old the other day if he was on MySpace. He said ‘absolutely not.’ I asked him if he talks with people online other than through his friends on Hotmail messaging. He said occasionally, when he is playing games online, but that he never gives out any personal information. We also, from time to time, do history checks (we have four boys and as we all know they go through ‘curious’ stages). We have, in fact, ‘caught’ the older ones ‘exploring.’ That led to more talks and threats of loss of privileges. We also stressed the pop-up factor and the fact that their younger brothers might get some real surprises, so their actions should be avoided.”
Frank Cruz-Aedo of Liberty Lake wrote, “I bought my first PC 10 months before my first born with the specific goal to not be computer dumb for my kids’ sake. They’re still just 7 and 8 years old but they email their 10- and 11-year-old cousins and spend time on Barbie.com and CartoonNetwork.com. I’ve already explained the World Wide Web and that it can open the door to strangers. Education must start now just like awareness of smoking, drinking and drugs. Before they get older they will already have accepted a filter as something they want!”
Lisa Paolino of Colbert wrote, “Our son is only 10 years old, yet keeping him safe online is an issue for us. He logged on to sex.com and that started the ball rolling. We found this Web site in the Internet history. We kept our cool and sat our son down for a little chat. … We now have McAfee Privacy Service (provided free with Comcast.net.) The user can enter keywords, such as ‘sex.’ that will be blocked. … We also monitor the history of the Internet, to check what has been viewed. At this point, our children do not know about this.”
The bottom line, “Overall, there is a certain amount of trust that must be present – but that trust comes with understandings of what is and is not acceptable,” Irby wrote.