Internet Impact
The Internet has become a necessary evil in today's fast moving advanced world. This is because it is known to be the fastest mode of communication. It can also be a storehouse of knowledge for your pre-teen child if used correctly. Sadly there are various risks associated with the Internet if it is not used with a proper sense of discretion. As a pre-teenager, your child may not be able to be on her guard when she uses the Internet. This is mainly because she is fascinated by what the Internet has to offer and cannot distinguish the right from the wrong. As a caring parent, you can develop a healthy Internet etiquette for your pre-teenager.
How Internet affects my pre-teenager
If not used carefully, the Internet can exploit your pre-teenager to a great extent. Some adverse effects of improper usage of the Internet are:
- Sending an e-mail to the wrong person is one of the most common mistakes. Remember that the person who received your e-mail may be a total stranger. He can start making friendly contacts with your child and and slowly gather her personal information which can be unsafe.
- Sending junk mails and attachments can result in virus threats. Also unconfirmed reports sent through e-mail can instil a sense of fear.
- If your child is conversing with a person whom she do not know or is from another country, it is likely that she is ignorant of that person's country's beliefs, customs and traditions. So teach her to be on her guard before she makes a comment as this can hurt the other person's emotions.
- If the communication between your pre-teenager and the person is not clear, it can cause unnecessary misunderstandings.
- If the Internet is not used with discretion, your pre-teenager can become a victim of sexual abuse and online danger.
- Getting hooked to the Internet can deprive your pre-teenager from focusing on her studies.
- Long hours of Internet usage can make your pre-teenager withdrawn from her friends and abstain from doing her
homework. She may even stop her reading habit and waste time that can be used for enhancing her creativity. - Your pre-teenager may accidentally get involved in petty crimes without your knowledge such as giving out your credit card number.
Video on Protecting Your Daughter from Cyber Bullying
How can I ensure safe Internet usage for my pre-teenager?
Some simple tips to make Internet usage safe for your pre-teenager are:
- Restrict the amount of time your pre-teenager spends on the Internet. It is advisable not to allow her to use the Internet for more than two hours a day.
- Spend time with your child when she goes online. Try and find out which websites she likes visiting the most. If your child turns off the monitor or changes the screen as soon as she sees you, it can be a point of concern.
- Do not keep the computer in your pre-teenager's private room such as the bedroom. Make sure that it is in a common place that you can occasionally check on.
- Restricting your child from using the chat rooms is a good idea. You can consider using software that blocks such websites. Actively participating in chat rooms can end in physical harm and psychological scarring.
- Help your child identify useful websites that help in her education, enhance her creativity and the like.
- Instruct her to never arrange for a face-to-face meeting alone with a person whom she has met only online. Also, advise her strictly against volunteering personal information and sending her pictures across to a stranger. Make sure that the social networking websites she uses do not reveal too much of personal information.
- Watch out for phone calls received by your pre-teenager from strangers.
- Do not allow her to download pictures from an unknown source or respond to messages on bulletin boards that she is not sure of.
- Tell her that whatever is communicated to her online may or may not be true and that she must not trust them fully.
- Install a firewall, an up-to-date anti-virus and an anti-spyware software. It is a good idea to install a monitoring software that gives you the details of the websites visited by your pre-teenager.
- Watch out for excessive browsing during the night hours. This may signal a problem if not attended to.
As a caring parent, it is up to you to make Internet browsing safe, educative and memorable for your pre-teenager.
