Monitoring and filtering at home

As parents, you can reinforce what schools are doing by negotiating a Use Agreement with your child (children) and establishing a sort of 'policy' for how and when Internet can be used in your home. 

Monitoring is crucial to maintaining a safe Internet environment whether at home or at school.  A school policy (or parent-child use agreement at home) isn't worth the paper it's printed on if there is no monitoring of activity.  There are a number of factors to consider in monitoring.

Siting the computer

The easiest way to monitor computer access to the Internet is to keep an eye on the screen.  It is really hard to do that through a closed bedroom door, so move the computer into a communal space like the lounge, where people walking by can easily see what is on the screen.  This also reinforces the message that the Internet is for the whole family, not for one person to use in isolation.

If the computer is in the bedroom, it is also hard to monitor time spent on the Net.  Quite a few young people are on the Internet in their rooms long into the night, unbeknownst to their sleeping parents.

Time on the Internet

Any parent agreement with children can include how much time young people spend on the Net.  Set some reasonable limits that allow time for good 'old-fashioned' face to face interaction with family and friends. 

This is not an uncommon problem for parents.  Parents have been dealing with the time issue regarding television watching, video game-playing and 'doing homework' on the phone at night with friends.  The same strategies used for these situations can be applied to time spent on the Net.

History of sites visited

You can check the history on the toolbar of your browser.  You can also delete unwanted sites from that history.   We are not going to demonstrate that on NetSafe^® because it may not only be parents visiting this page.  Ask your children's ICT teacher, or a friend, how to do this - it's very simple. 

This suggestion comes with a warning to be realistic about the limitations of such practices if your child is fairly advanced with this technology.

If you have a child just learning about the Net, checking the history is a good strategy.  If you have a child who has hacking skills and is adept with the technology, checking the history is probably a waste of time.  They would know enough to manipulate that history any way they wanted.  That's why education is so important.  If your child has great ability with the technology, (which is a wonderful gift) you can empower them to keep themselves (and others) safe with information from this site and ask them to help you build your own skills. 

Software monitoring

There are some excellent options for monitoring activity on the home computer.  Such programmes can let you know when a significant number of large files have been downloaded (could be MP3 music files or images like friends' photos or even pornography).  Such programmes can alert you to a potential problem.  If you have high-speed access to the Internet, downloading a quantity of such large files can be costly, so such programmes can help keep your access costs down.  Please visit the Products & Services page of NetSafe^® to see some of the choices available.

Filtering

Every parent must make their own decision about filtering.  There are some excellent software packages and several Internet Service Providers who provide a reliable filtered access to the Internet (see the Products & Services page).  Filtering can certainly help control what sort of material comes into your home.  Even spam can be virtually eliminated with a good service or piece of software. 

The age of your children may also influence your decision.  If you have young children who are just getting started with the Internet, filtering provides a very safe way for them to start learning about cyberspace.  If you have older teenagers, however, who have been using the Net for years, they may be used to unfiltered access at friends' houses, the library, the local cybercafe and elsewhere. 

Finding the right combination for your home

The key is for you as a parent to decide what role the Internet has in your household and how and when members of your family can use it.  Also, discussing the consequences for misuse of the Internet before there is a problem, can help everyone be prepared and informed.  There are a number of good options to establish the Internet environment that is right for you.

Don't forget the phone!

With more young people having Internet-accessible mobile phones, the question of monitoring becomes more complex.  Mobile phone use is difficult to monitor other than by the monthly charges, because they are so small and portable.  Again, education becomes the key strategy.  Empower young people with information about safety in chatrooms, the issues about pornography, how to respond to anti-social messages, etc,so they are safe wherever they access the Internet.