Don't Push Your Children Away

There are parents who push their children away from the internet because they say that digital technology contains so much information that it makes it hard to control. Others reason that the internet takes up so much family time and builds an invisible wall among the family members. Still others assert that children could become exposed to online predators who pretend to be friends.

No matter how much we try to suppress or refuse it, technology is always a part of our lives, including that of the children. Information is deposited into this virtual world that holds limitless potential for good. In fact, it is more harmful to deprive children the chance of using the technology rather than guiding them on how to use it. Aside from not benefiting from it, they become dangerously curious, which usually leads to misuse.

With proper control and guidance from parents, children’s online experiences can be as rewarding as any offline activity. The internet is a threat to children’s privacy only in the absence of well-defined rules that both parents and children have agreed upon. It can also be added that many parents need to teach themselves more about the internet.

Yes, parents need to know more about the internet than just the basics of online browsing. They should also use such online stuff like email, online purchasing and, of course, social networking. Parents will have less fear and be in a better position to do what is right when they are well-informed. They can teach their children how to maintain their privacy while keeping in touch with their friends in the social network.

Parents who know how to use the internet will have access to websites that are potentially dangerous to children. There are websites that can lure children into providing some personal information about the family just so they can obtain an online freebie. In its simplest sense, the internet is a widely commercialized medium. Children do not have the maturity to appropriately handle these targeted advertising tools. They can only be safe with their parents as their first line of defense.

Not all children are on the same level of development. Parents cannot give a one-shot solution to online safety. They need to adapt internet safety rules according to the level of the child. It is not good for parents to threaten or to bribe their children. Above all, parents have no reason to deny their children the benefits of the internet simply because they are uninformed about technology.

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