Kids Online and Parents Monitoring

In this week, we talked about the technology across the life span. Unlike the generation of our parents, people in age range of 18 to 29 today has the highest rates of Internet use. Our group uses Internet more than any other age group, and the usage of the Internet of the age group of 13 to 17 is following this group. Teens these days have been growing up with continuous Internet usage. Kids online are benefited by easy access to the academic information. However, on the other hand, they are at the risk of many dangers on the Internet.

            According to the data shown in the class, the number one concern of parents on kids using Internet was encountering strangers online. It is a danger to all the Internet users, but especially kids are vulnerable to the predators because they are not quite good at catching a sign of danger yet. Other concerns that are raised were private information available to advertisers, reputation management, and impact on future opportunities. It was funny to hear the story about son giving the family’s information to the advertiser to earn some items for his game on the Facebook. However, it could be no fun if the information given was more financial related or private medical information. Kids often reveal personal information without even noticing its consequences. Therefore, parents are very concerned about their children using Internet. According to the article, Parents are desperate for any way to help their children avoid the career torpedoing, cyber bully-provoking mishap, and they sometimes choose to monitor or even spy on them in order to protect them from all the dangers online. 77% of the parents answered that they have been monitored their kids, but sometimes these monitoring cause some conflict between kids and parents.  Kids think that parents are invading their privacy by the surveillance online. How can we satisfy both worrying parents and kids’ privacy? A communication is the key. Internet is affordable and accessible to most of the kids today. By comparison, there is not enough education on kids about how to use Internet wisely and safely. Signe Whitson gives some advices on how to communicate with the kids on this issue. First, Parents need to teach what is appropriate or inappropriate before they let their kids to go online, and they should show their child how to set up the privacy features. These settings will protect the child from allowing strangers access to his or her profiles. Next, parents need to thoroughly explain what dangers exist on the Internet to the kids, instead of downloading a monitoring program on the computer. Talk with him or her in clear, frank terms about the real dangers of online predators and the serious need to avoid them.

She recommends since danger online occurs more commonly at the hands of friends than of enemies, it is also critical to teach your child how to "block" comments and contacts by peers who have a history of engaging in cruel online behavior. After all these communication with the kids, Megan Mass, the sexuality educator, asks the parents to be honest about the monitoring when they decide to do so because secretly recording a kid's Internet usage will likely do more harm to the relationship than good for the child.

            I was not monitored when I was a kid, but I had a time limit of using the Internet. Also the computer was placed at the living room. I was told about keeping private information safe online a lot from my parents. Instead of secretly spying on me, my parents set the discipline so I can eventually have a concept of what is appropriate behavior online. Kids are getting more familiar to newest technology, and they can find the way to flee from parents’ monitoring. Regulation without communication only makes kids to sneak out of surveillance and causes rebellion. It is not about controlling them, but it is rather teaching them how to use a technology safe.