This book will help both parents and their kids to safely navigate the Internet. There are a great number of risks online and the more one knows the better for all.

To learn more and to order online, please go to http://www.amazon.com/Surviving-Internet-Guide-Parents-Kids/dp/1452867208/

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Of course, we know all about how predators use chat rooms, message boards, and social networking sites to target children and teens, but did you know that you child may be targeted by a peer? Bullying used to be the bit worry at school, but now it has moved to the Internet. An Internet bully can be someone your child knows or someone who is just out to do it for kicks. They might send threatening emails, instant messages, or post false or damaging information on boards frequented by your child.

Another huge danger that lurks for kids on the Internet is the danger of Internet addiction. It may sound silly, but kids can become addicted to the Internet just like they can get hooked on drugs or alcohol. There are even centers for Internet addiction rehab, with China leading the way. Whatever the vice, the Internet has an addiction, whether it is gambling, auction sites, or adult material. Kids who are addicted to the Internet show some of the same signs of addiction that drug addicts exhibit. Withdrawal is similarly severe, with symptoms like shakes and in some cases physical sickness.

As kids spend more and more time online, advertisers take notice. Have you ever done a search for something and noticed the little advertisements on the side of the screen? Those don’t get there accidentally. Advertisers are finding extremely specific ways to target advertising towards children. Many advertisers try as hard as they can to gain your kids’ attention in an attempt to sway their patterns of thought. There’s a lot of money in the ‘guilt purchase’, so they’re constantly after kids to pester their parents into buying the latest plastic toy. Research has shown that kids who are constantly barraged with advertising not only recognize brand names and logos, but form brand loyalty at a very young age. Kids see the logo or character on the Internet, then they see it in the store and want it.

You also cannot ignore the fact that teens are curious and children often don’t have the good judgment to not click on certain advertisements or emails. Adult oriented material is all over the Internet, or as one popular song circulated on viral video sites states, “the Internet is for porn”. While not every site on the Internet is porn or porn related, there certainly is no shortage of sites out there, including many with misleading names. These sites have names that would suggest an innocent subject matter, but have intentions far from innocent.

With all of these threats coming from the Internet, parents and guardians must be vigilant as to what their kids are viewing on the Internet. Educate your kids about the dangers of meeting strangers online. Let them know that if they are contacted by someone they don’t know, they can tell you about it. Let them know that you are interested in their on line activity because you want to protect them from everything that can hurt them. Parenting responsibly is difficult, but with a little patience and discernment, you will succeed.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Many teens, when interviewed, have admitted that they use the Internet quite a bit. Some have even stated that they would not be able to live their lives in a normal fashion if they could no longer access the Internet. Indeed, many teens’ interpersonal connections may be lost without the ability to instant message or post on social forums, and this is what worries parents about their kids using the Internet.

As we move into the 21st century, parents are becoming more aware that the current generation of kids is the first generation to experience life without the absence of computers. Every generation in the past has had to live without computers and the Internet except for this one. More troubling still is that this new generation of youth seems unwilling or unable to forge real personal connections to other human beings without the use of the Internet. Some members of the older generation may feel that kids today never write letters anymore, or don’t know how to go out and enjoy the outdoors without the sounds of airplanes overhead, traffic from the Interstate, and a cell phone attached to their hip.

Parents worry about how much their kids use the Internet because of all of these things, but above all, the chance for a very real predator to present themselves in the online (fantasy) world. Teenagers take full advantage of the anonymity of the Internet and often present themselves in different lights to different people. This can be seen as nothing more than testing the waters of the real world to see who they are really comfortable being.

Striking up conversations with strangers isn’t unheard of for most of America’s teenage population. Unfortunately, even the most technically savvy teen can be a little naive when it comes to revealing personal details to strangers online. Teens on the whole are careful, but many slip up. Most have responded to an instant message from a stranger or forged a relationship of some sort with someone they have never met before.

Scarier than your teenager initiating contact with a predator is the thought of a predator contacting your teen. It is nothing difficult to put together a string of search criteria and come up with a kid’s profile. An online profile is something that a teenager fills out on their own, and either completely lies or puts down accurate information. Giving a stranger information like where they live, what their interests and hobbies are, or even physical descriptions is commonplace in the teen community.

Of all the concerns that parents have regarding Internet use among teenagers, the most severe is (or should be) how easily a stranger can find them. Too many kids are too trusting online, and those that would take advantage of that trust are too many. Parents must strike a balance between healthy concern and nosiness, but we must all err on the side of caution– even if your kids don’t like it.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

All of the settings controls are centralized in one location. You can access them by going to the User Accounts page and looking for the Family and Parental Controls applet. Using this one control panel, you have limit setting ability over what websites your kids are allowed to access. Some third party parental control software packages even work directly with Vista and allow you to use the program directly from this menu. Unfortunately, parental control systems in Windows Vista don’t allow you to constrict these things across a network, so you’ll have to set them up for each computer on your network.

Directly from the easily accessible menu, you can generate activity reports that show where your child has gone and what they’ve done while logged on. You can use these reports for their obvious purpose and just see what they are doing, or you can use the information as a feedback system to see if your parental controls are enough or too much. Often times, you’ll set up a filter and a website that you don’t want them to see will make it past the filter, so you can use the activity report to fine tune your restrictive settings.

One of the great controls Vista allows parents is a time limiter. With so many kids today spending hours on the computer, it is prudent to limit the amount of time your child is looking at the screen. A graph showing time usage by day and hour across the whole week tells you when peak computer use is. All you have to do to restrict their use by time is pull up a grid of the days and hours of a week and click the times block that you don’t want your kids to use the computer. You can the relax and be confident that the parental controls will kick in reliably, even when you are not there to enforce the rule.

Some parents may feel that it is not their business what their kids do online, but the reality is that kids are curious, and if their behavior is not monitored closely, they can find themselves in a world they do not understand, or places full of information that they don’t’ need to know yet. Vigilance and temperance are key when choosing your limitations, but with a little time, you can give your kids a full experience of the Internet and the computer without cutting them off completely.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Recent research shows that teenagers and older children spend as much as four or five hours logged onto the Internet. About ten years ago, watchdog groups were worried about kids spending that much time in front of the television, only now, they’ve either replaced television with Internet or they’ve simply added the computer to their already full days.

This has become a dangerous trend in youth behavior. With so many things making demands on teenagers’ time, spending time with the family is even more important than it ever has been. Unfortunately, teens are spending less time engaging in meaningful interaction with the family as a unit than they need. In fact, many teens are replacing real human contact with Internet friendships and relationships at a staggering rate.

Family time takes many forms, including nightly dinner, movie night, or a trip to the ballpark. When relationships are fostered within a family structure, the bond between child and parent is strengthened, effectively giving the parent more control over the behavior of the kids. It’s not hard to see the advantage of a strong relationship with your kids. So many parents are exasperated by their kids’ judgment (or lack of the same).

It’s never too late to introduce dedicated family time into your routine. Even if it’s just once a month, it can do worlds to bring your family closer together. Of course, starting family time is much easier the earlier you do it, but it is possible to start family night later in your kids’ lives. Teenagers are usually pretty strong willed, so don’t force them into anything, but you can find something they will join in.

If your teen resists your efforts, find out what he or she is interested in. Perhaps they have a hobby you don’t know about. If they like food, teach them to cook. Maybe going to see a local sports team play will get their attention. Anything you can think of that will engage their attention and allow them to spend time with you in an enjoyable manner is a good idea. The key here is that the time is enjoyable and free from judgment or conflict. If you bring up a subject and they seem a bit defensive, don’t push it too much or you will risk alienating them further.

The Internet is a place for teens and kids of all ages to get together with countless like minded people, so it’s a great escape when family time seems so ‘uncool’. Show your kids that family time is good time; you won’t regret it.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

This is not to say that there are 20 million kids on all at the same time. That would be absurd. There are, however, a little more than half that amount on at any given moment. That’s substantial. That is a staggering statistic, especially when you consider the fact that the 20 million figure represents a nearly 300% increase in the last ten years as opposed to a 10% increase in adult Internet use over the same time period.

With all of these teenagers using the Internet so much so often, we need to ask ourselves what they are actually doing. Millions of kids aren’t just checking email. Research and surveys have shown that kids log on to play games, get news content, purchase goods and services, and obtain information related to health and wellness. This isn’t a comprehensive list of teen activity on the web, of course, but it does represent what a large portion of them are doing.

In fact, many teenagers use the Internet to do research for homework, scores of younger teen girls seem interested in the latest fashion trends and celebrity news, and a good portion of them download music (legally and otherwise).

With the increasing popularity of personal websites and small organization websites, kids are getting their information on local events and sports scores from the Internet. In the last few years it seems that every local club, sports team and social club has their own website, making it easier for anyone to keep up with the group’s activities. Meetings, games, and activities no longer have to be published and mailed, but can just be posted for all to see.

The anonymous nature of the Internet has led scores of young girls to use it to research topics related to health. Dieting, exercise, depression, and other personal subject matters are popular searches for teen girls. This may have something to do with the fact that many teens feel uncomfortable talking about these things with their parents or another adult. In this sense, some teens are using the Internet as a stand in for what used to be the job of a parent, guardian, or teacher.

Other popular uses of the Internet include instant messaging, social bookmarking sites like MySpace and Twitter, and online bulletin boards or forums. Many teens have admitted to maintaining several screen names and email addresses, which they use depending on who they are dealing with. The Internet allows someone to have multiple personalities and identities, and that is very alluring to a teen.

That’s not always a bad thing, though. Teens are always trying to figure out the road to adulthood, and the Internet seems to allow them the freedom to experiment with different forays into the adult world with little to no lasting repercussions. The danger comes when a teen can’t separate reality from the online world. As a parent or teacher, your job is to make clear the difference between the real world and the fantasy world that many teens create for themselves on the Internet.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

* Spending Large Amounts of Time Online: Instant Messaging programs can quickly suck up large blocks of time. Your child is engaged in real time chats, and they may be sucked in. Predators are experts at maintaining this type of conversation for long periods of time. If you notice lengthy chat or IM sessions, be sure to ask your teen who they were chatting with.

* Online Activity at Night: Unless your teen is chatting with someone in Australia, night time chats may mean that they’re trying to hide their activities from you. Night time is quieter and more private, allowing them to keep their conversations a secret from you. Check IM logs regularly – if you notice an excessive amount of night time chatting, it’s time to ask some questions.

*Phone Calls from Strangers: If your teenager is receiving phone calls from people you don’t know, it means that they’ve been giving their phone number out. Take action to stop this behavior immediately!

*Receives Packages from People You Don’t Know: This is even more dangerous – if your teen is receiving mail from strangers, this means that someone has your home address. Discuss this with them immediately, find out if the person is an adult, and consider contacting the authorities.

* Shuts off the Monitor or Changes Screens: If your teenager regularly shuts off the monitor, switches tabs, or minimizes their browser when you enter the room, there’s something they don’t want you to see. You need to find out what they’re up to – before it’s too late!

If you notice any of these behaviors in your teenager, you need to start a conversation about sex offenders and predators as soon as possible. You need to be as honest with them as possible about the dangers involved, and the techniques that these adults use to manipulate teenagers.

You’ll also want to to put some type of monitoring software into place on your computer as soon as possible. Keyloggers, website trackers, and more are available. You’ll need this information to make your case with your teenager, to monitor their future behavior, and to keep records that you can use to report the predator to the authorities.

If you’ve noticed these behaviors, take action today! It’s essential to your teen’s safety.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Believe it or not, people are even finding friends on the Internet. Some even look to find mates and life partners through Internet dating services and social networking sites. The popularity of these social sites has exploded over the last several years, with literally thousands of people signing up every single day. One of the most popular sites, MySpace, allows users to build a small personal website and start creating a network of ‘friends’.

Sounds innocent enough, right? You would be wrong if you thought it was all harmless fun. While sites like this were originally created and conceived of as simply a way for friends to keep in touch, online predators extol their virtues as a plentiful source of willing victims.

Many teens these days are turning to MySpace and sites like it to make connections with other kids their age. They spend more and more time on the Internet sending messages back and forth to their new friends. If your son or daughter is heavily into these social sites, you may want to start paying more attention to what they do and who they are in contact with.

The danger is no so much that they will be talking with friends, but that someone who has no good intentions will lure them into a friendly relationship with false information. On the Internet, you can be whoever you want to be. A middle aged man in Oklahoma can simply fill out his information so that he is now a 14 year old girl in New York. A predator uses this anonymity to entice his victims into a trusting relationship, and most try to arrange a meeting at some point.

Law enforcement departments across the nation have set up special task forces to deal with this ever present threat, and some officers even pose as young people looking for friends on the Internet to try to draw out the predators and catch them. This doesn’t stop bad things from happening every now and then, so you should always be aware of what your kids are doing on the Internet.

It is not always a bad thing for kids to forge friendships on the Internet, but they don’t always have the good judgment to know when a person they are in touch with is suspect. Teach them the warning signs, and be absolutely insistent that they never meet someone they met on the Internet unless you know about it, and are there. This is not an out of this world over protective request, even though they might think so. Kids these days are convince that they are more mature than kids of the past, but that is simply not true. While it may be true that there is more for kids to deal with now (with the increasing popularity of the Internet, television, and other mass communication), they are still biologically kids, and they don’t’ have the same kind of discernment skill that you as an adult have.

Teach your kids to know the difference, and let them know that you care for their safety. Keeping kids safe on the Internet is hard, but not impossible. You can do it. Don’t give up and don’t give in. Your kids will thank you in the end.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we can protect our kids by limiting their internet access. The truth is, however, that this is nearly impossible to do. There are so many ways to access the internet – the library, school, their friend’s houses, cell phones, internet cafes – constantly monitoring our kid’s internet usage is extremely difficult.

Since we can’t always be there to monitor their actions, it’s important that we as parents take the time to teach our children about internet safety. We need to teach them how to protect themselves, while taking steps to monitor their internet usage in the home.

Teenagers don’t see the internet as a dangerous place. Therefore, it’s important to help them see the big picture – that there are dangerous people and websites out there, and that they need to be alert when browsing the web. This internet self defense is an essential life skill that you should be sure to teach your kids.

When our teens are at home, however, we can use our parenting skills to help keep them safe online. One such skill is limiting the time that they spend online. By limiting your child’s internet usage to a specific number of hours per day or week, you automatically decrease the time they have to spend on inappropriate activities. You also teach them about time management and encourage them to spend time on other activities, such as sports, family activities, and homework.

If you decide to put this type of plan into effect, it’s important that you enforce it consistently. Move the computer into a public location, then time his or her usage daily. Exceptions can be made for large homework assignments, research projects, and schoolwork, but should only happen occasionally.

By limiting your teenager’s online access, you’re cutting down on the time they have to aimlessly browse the internet. This type of surfing can quickly put them in hot water, so you’re doing them a favor. Work to teach your teen to manage their time effectively by limiting their internet access. In the proces, you’re limiting their exposure to advertising, inappropriate content, and their risk of being victimized – it’s a win-win situation!

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Unfortunately, what happens is that teens will lie about their age or pose as their parents to gain access to a gambling site. Before you know it, the parent’s credit card is maxed out, credit ratings are ruined and there’s no way out of the debt but to pay it off. In the process, the teen becomes addicted to gambling, and finds a way to continue their behavior whatever the cost.

How do you avoid this situation? Obviously, you can’t police your kids’ Internet usage 24 hours a day, but you can educate your child about the dangers of Internet gambling and gambling addiction in general. Research has found that gambling can be as addictive as drugs. Lab rats that are trained to push a button to receive a food pellet will only push it when they are hungry. When the food pellet is randomly dispensed, the rat will continue to push the button even after their hunger has been satisfied. In some cases, the rats will exhaust themselves pressing the button.

This research tells us that it is not so much the flashing lights or even the winning that is the addicting factor in gambling. Rather the chance that they will win becomes addictive, and no matter how often a person loses, an addict will play one more time because that is the time they will win. Casinos and other gambling institutions are keenly aware of this phenomenon and take measures to carefully use it to their advantage. They also take great pains to make sure that nobody under the legal age comes into the establishment, let along touches the machines.

Internet gambling sites rarely take such exhaustive measures. In fact, all it usually takes to gain access to the games themselves is a click on a button that says you’re of legal age. Many gambling sites operate overseas, so the laws of the United States don’t really apply. As long as a credit card is good, the site’s processing software doesn’t know who is entering the information. This allows a teen to steal their parent’s credit card (or anyone else’s in certain extreme cases), enter the information and start betting.

Credit limits can be easily reached- and very quickly. To give you some sort of idea of how fast a credit card can be filled up, we’ll take the example of a card with a credit limit of about $5,000. A risky teenager can lose about $200 on a football game or play blackjack at $5 per hand. In about a week, if they are left unmonitored, anyone can lose literally thousands of dollars. Since your credit card bill comes once a month, it can be as much as thirty days before you realize that you are maxed out or worse, and by that time, your teen can be addicted or you can find yourself too deep in debt to climb out.

There are ways to keep you teen off of Internet gambling sites. The easiest thing to do is to block gambling sites from your computer. Most Internet Service Providers offer some sort of blocking software as part of their package. You can also sit your teen down and educated them about the dangers of gambling addiction. If you suspect that your teen is involved in online gambling, do your best to find out for sure. Gambling can be a dangerous addiction, so don’t miss it.

Have a great day!

Lawrence