Ben Teen

I started my kids blogging a little while back as a way for them to earn a little extra cash so they would stop hounding me for cash all the time. I must say that it has been incredibly successful for them and they are very impressed with the money that they have been earning.

I have had many people ask me do I have any safety precautions to protect my children while they are using the internet so I’m writing this article to give my tips on keeping kids safe on the internet.

• My kids don’t have internet access from their bedrooms. The computer that they use to access the internet is in the main living area of the house and I very regularly look over their shoulder to see what they are doing.

• Often I will let them use the internet to do any research that they need and then they will go off the internet and just use Word to type up their blog post so that they are just not surfing the internet for long periods of time.

• I have sat my children down and talked to them of the dangers of the internet. I did this after my son who sometimes goes into the ‘Club Penguin’ website was adding lots of other Club Penguin users to his friends. I noticed this on one of these occasions that I looked over his shoulder and then I sat him down and discussed the whole safety issue with him. I have told him that he can only add as friends his friends from school that he meets on Club Penguin – friends that I have met and know. They have abided by this rule as I check regularly and they have never complained.

• Have an internet child safety software program installed. There are many software programs available and if your children do use the internet a lot then it is definitely worth installing one on your computer. Your child’s safety is worth all the money in the world and internet safety programs really aren’t very expensive so if you have children then get one.  My recommendation is a software called I Am Big Brother.

I must admit I have been very lucky and my children have shown no interest in any ‘trouble’ websites and are quite happy to abide by my internet rules. It is very important to always keep an eye on them though and take all the necessary precautions.