Hi, Dr. Laura:
Protecting kids from Internet predators is not all that difficult. These are the rules we followed in our house:
- The parents are responsible for their kids and are to provide love, their time, love, guidance, love, discipline and more love.
- There is no kid "right to privacy" as that would be an abdication of love, discipline and guidance.
- All computers are used in the common living space where they can be seen by the parents and browsing history can be reviewed as well as any other mysterious means of tracking we deem necessary. This was known and explained to the kids. Because we established a relationship where we love our kids and each other, they trust us to protect them. This was never a problem in our house.
- We consistently invested the time with them on the computer to ensure that they had a lot of fun without getting into trouble.
- They could always come to us with questions about what was appropriate behavior and what was risky browsing. If they ever saw something that was wrong or suspect, they talked to us about it.
We had lots of fun together, and as they grew, they became savvy about safety. As young adults now they are solidly grounded. They understand the reasons why we made the rules we did and they're grateful for all the investment of time. We loved them too much to cede the teaching of values and safety to others.
Dale
