Protect her from online filth

To keep her safe from Internet predators and pornography you must monitor what she does on the computer constantly, advises JOHN MUTURI

The children are home for the long Christmas holiday away from the hectic school life. Those who attend boarding schools are even more excited to enjoy what they have forgone while they were away in school. You as a parent are not as lucky because there is no one ‘professional enough’ to keep an eye on them.

Your children’s teacher is no longer there to offload you your parenting duties, while you sit comfortably in the office without a care in the world what your child is up to. Yes, you have the house help but you bet she may not be able to keep a tab at all times on what the children are doing with their play station or the Internet.

Easy access

You cannot stop them from browsing the Internet because today most schools offer computer lessons. Further, most Internet service providers have made it easy to access the net through cheap rates. So this holiday season the Internet may present an interesting challenge for you as a parent.

Indeed the Internet has become a wonderful resource for our children as they use it to research schoolwork, communicate with teachers and other children and play interactive games.

Those old enough can literally access the world on the computer keyboard.

Online protection

Children have also learnt that they can connect with friends and relatives through social sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. So now these social sites take a good portion of your children’s time.

However resourceful it is, Internet access also poses hazards by design or accident.

For instance, a seven-year-old might do an online search for ‘Lego’.

One miss on the keystroke, the word ‘Leg’ appears instead, and she may be directed to a pornographic website. The rate of cyber crimes is high and unfortunately there is no law in Kenya protecting children from cyber criminals. But even with laws, you are the best online protection for your child.

You need to be aware of what your children see and hear on the Internet, who they meet, and what they share about themselves online. The first step is to tell your children about your concerns and protect them as you keep a close eye on their activities.

By talking to them about potential online dangers and monitoring their use of the computer, you will help them surf the Internet safely. While there are online tools to help control your child’s access to adult material, you can’t guarantee 100 per cent risk free on the Internet. It is your duty therefore to get software that helps block access to certain sites.

Teach them the pros and cons of using the Internet by giving real examples where misuse of Internet has put people into trouble.

They should be encouraged to be open-minded and share whatever concerns they have with the parent.