Just about every computer sold today will come with some form of Internet security software pre-installed that will do a very good job of keeping your computer secure from malicious programs. What these software packages from vendors like Symantec and McAfee lack are common sense and intuition. Humans cannot yet program these two things, and when we figure out how, it will be an unpleasant society to live in. Thankfully, we are still in control of what we do with our computers and how they are used. There need to be ground rules set by parents on when and how the home computer is used, and children should be aware of the dangers that can be found out there.

What can a parent do to be proactive in keeping tabs on their children’s Internet usage? First of all, proper prevention and education are key keeping the potential risk very low. Talk to your kids about the dangers, and make sure they are keen to the places and circumstances where they can be most vulnerable. Another thing that can be done is to set rules of use for the computer, much like an acceptable use policy most organizations set for employees. I highly suggest expressing to your kids the dangers of revealing personal information to anyone online, and to value their own well being when surfing the Internet. In addition to that, my personal recommendation is to be around when kids are on the computer and try to be involved and active in their online habits while engaging them with ideas for healthy use of the Internet such as suggesting great research websites and fun online learning tools. If you’re unable to do that, the internet browser history and temporary files are a good place to start to get a good sense of what sites have been visited. But kids these days know a great deal about computers, and will most likely know how to clean up browser history. The next option is to setup a monitoring software package that will allow you to be aware of various facets of activities.

There are several websites that provide many more tips and good advice to use when trying to understand how to protect your family. Check out Safe Kids and Kids Online Resources which both are extremely valuable reference points for becoming an expert in keeping your family safe online.