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“Helping You To Help Your Child” |
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Helping You To Help Your Child
by Dragan_Glas
29 Apr 2006
With all due respect to the author, I confess I must object to the advice – if not the concerns – expressed in How To Spy On Your Kids.
I was reminded of the well-known saying, “The road to ruin is paved with good intentions”.
One can understand the need for, and use of, such techniques in schools.
In the UK, schools are required to monitor email and internet usage so that they can intervene, in a timely manner, if there’s evidence of anything untoward – from bullying to a Columbine-style threat (however unlikely that may be in the UK).
That any parent should need to resort to such measures says as much about that parent’s relationship with their child as the dangers of cyberspace.
Such recourse is more likely, if anything, to push the child further away, into the “sympathetic, understanding” arms of his/her online “friend(s)” - who may or may not be what they appear.
The title of this article appears in quotes because it is the sub-title of a UK government-sponsored website, ParentsCentre, which offers advice to parents in all areas relating to their children.
A quick glance at the wording of any of the paragraphs that appear on the page – and the site in general – clearly shows a different approach, as epitomized by the site’s sub-title.
It encourages parents to work with their children and encourage their children to work with them.
It gives some very good advice to parents on various aspects of computers and safety on the internet.
For example, it advises parents to go with their child if (s)he wishes to meet an online “friend” for the first time.
A mother in the UK who did this one evening, ended up confronting a man in his late thirties who admitted to being the online “friend” – needless to say, her 10-year old daughter was shocked and upset at the fact that he wasn’t the “12-year old boy” she’d thought she was going to meet.
Would the mother have been able to do this if she’d lost her daughter’s trust?
The child might well have sneaked out one evening, never to be heard from again.
I would advise any parent to have a read through the computer/internet-related articles and linked sites - regardless of what country you are in.
As CastleCops is a US-based/hosted site, I realize that most of the visitors here will be Americans.
It is most likely that you will find similar websites in your own country – possibly State-sponsored – which will approach these issues from a similar viewpoint;
to bring parents and their children together
to educate them both
so that they can use the internet in safety as a family
Perhaps this site and others can work together with schools and government agencies to further that goal.
If you are aware of similar sites, share that knowledge – the more who know, the better for all concerned.
Safe surfing!
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