Surfing With Kids

Thank You For Voting Us One Of The Web's Best Online Toy Stores!

WEB SAFETY
FOR CHILDREN

The WEB is growing by leaps and bounds. It is a terrific resource, but as we all know, the WEB is not regulated. Being unregulated, children may may come upon sites not suited for kids when surfing the WEB. It is up to us, as parents, to monitor young children's time spent on the WEB and to set rules for older children surfing the NET.

Since the NET is not regulated by anyone it opens the door to many risks.

Not all information on the WEB is accurate.
Some sites encourage violence.
Foul language is commonplace.
There are sites which feature pornography.
Certain sites embrace lifestyles which you may feel are immoral.

But this does not mean you shouldn't let your child surf the NET. Be aware of the risks, and surf cautiously with your child. If you lay the correct groundwork for children when they are young, they will be able to surf safely on their own when they are older.

First and foremost, the best way to monitor your child's online activities is to know what they are doing online. Monitoring a younger child is not difficult. Until a child becomes a preteen they probably will need your help accessing the NET and assistance surfing from place to place.

Also, based on the many children we know surfing the NET, until a child is a preteen their interest is going to be limited to playing online games; visiting safe commercial sites; finding information on topics they are learning in school; and searching for information concerning a hobby.

But older children present a problem. Therefore, for older children you must set rules for their use of the Internet. And you yourself, need to spend time with them online. It is important to explore the WEB with your child and discuss with them what you consider off-limits.

And it should go without saying, you must keep the lines of communication open with your child. Not only for NET exploration, but for everyday life. Children need to know that your interest in what they are doing is real!

With older children, particularly those that have a computer in their own room, monitor the amount of time spent surfing the NET. If a teen is spending a lot of time on the WEB late at night it may be a signal to a potential problem.

In our home there is a 10 and 5 year old. Both of them surf the NET. But when they do, someone is always nearby to help and monitor.

Monitoring the 5 year old is easy because we do the surfing for her. We pull up the sites and then let her play the game or color the picture. And when she is done, we surf to the next location for her.

But the 10 year has more freedom. She uses the search engines, jumps the links, and generally browses herself. So, when the 10 year old first started to show an interest in browsing we felt it was necessary to give her a set of rules. Some of the rules include:

If she comes across anything she doesn't understand she should call one of her parents.
She is not allowed to give out any personal information over the WEB. And if a WEB site requests information about her in order to gain access, she must call one of her parents.
If she comes across a site that has foul language, sexy pictures, or ads which make her uncomfortable, she should tell one of her parents.
She is not allowed to read any e-mail unless a parent is present.
And if she breaks any of the rules, she will lose her surfing privileges.

In all, surfing the WEB can be a fascinating, wonderful experience. But there are sites which are not appropriate for children. As a parent it is your job to monitor your child's access to the WEB.

Live And Learn - giving children a head start on tomorrow!

Who We Are Search Our Site Contact Info Main Menu Ordering Info Current Specials Privacy Policy