Who is more internet savvy in a typical American house; parents or their children? On an average, children know more about the internet than their parents do and this revelation is tipping the balance in favor of teenagers. Parents should at least have the same amount of knowledge about the internet as kids to keep afloat in the technological race. Then there is the possibility of teenagers figuring out ways to get around parental control software that might have installed in their machines. Hence, parents should know how to use a computer in order to navigate the internet. By doing so, they can be in a better position to assess the dangers that the internet pose for children.

According to the statistics provided by the San Diego County District Attorney website, most children are more internet literate than their parents. Some stats provided are as follows:

• An estimated 20% of parents do not supervise their children's internet use at all
• Only 52% of parents moderately supervise their children's internet use
• Some 71% of parents stop supervising internet use by their children after the age of 14, yet 72% of all Internet-related missing children cases involve children who are 15 years of age or older
• Close to 62% of teens say their parents know little or nothing about the websites they visit

If one is to believe these numbers then parents should leave aside everything and just freak out. There are many things that parents can do to enforce internet safety for kids to protect them from online dangers.

The most common of places

The foremost task that parents should carry out is to place the computer at a busy junction of the house. A child’s online activities are greatly influenced by the presence of a responsible adult in his/her immediate surroundings. Refrain from allowing your kids to have access to the internet in their rooms until they reach a certain age.

Learning new tricks

If you have minimum knowledge about internet usage, it is recommended that you should take a basic computer class and arrange for readings related to the internet. In addition, check in with your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and ask them about all the services that they provide.

Utilizing ISP parental controls, filtering software tools

Most ISP’s have parental controls which are ready for use. Additional monitoring software programs can always be purchased separately. Though filters and parental controls are effective in blocking objectionable material, still there is no replacement for receiving actual physical guidance from parents.

Tainted history records

Parents can receive a lot of information if they carefully scan the home computer. You can check the cookies, temporary history or cache files and know exactly how high your child might have been surfing online the previous night (wink wink). Apart from this, the recycle bin of the computer can also reveal interesting things.

Many independent software designers develop software and apps to help parents understand the internet better in order to keep their kids on track.

Internet safety laws

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) is a federal law created to help protect children on the internet. The law stops others from obtaining a child’s personal information without a parent’s knowledge and decision. COPPA requires websites to explain their privacy policy and get parental consent before collecting/using a child’s personal information.

The truth is that no law can safeguard your kid’s best interests until you become the first line of defense for them. The best online protection for your children can only be provided by you alone.