Guidelines
for parents
Find
out about the internet:
Your local library, community centre, or school
may offer free introductory materials which can
help you to understand the internet better. You
can also use the search engine to look for articles
which introduce the internet.
Get
involved:
Do not put up barriers between you and your child’s
experience on the internet. Spending time online
with your child will help your child to realize
that the values you have taught them apply to the
internet as well as in your home.
Keep it in perspective:
Overreacting to materials that you find objectionable
will frighten your child, give them a negative reaction
or intensify their curiosity instead, which they may attempt
to satisfy. If your child seems to be interested only
in playing online video games, try a tie-in to one
of their favorite games. For example, if your child
prefers fantasy role-playing, encourage her or him
to read fantasy books.
Encourage other interests and social activities:
Get your child out from behind the computer screen
and expose your kids to other hobbies and activities,
including sports, music, art or physical pastimes
etc. Take your kids to a ball game or a play, sign
up for swimming lessons or ceramics classes, visit
your local library or museum, as long as it is something
else from computer usage. Encourage your children
to connect with other children and make new friends
in activities such as soccer, basketball, Scouts,
girl guides and other after school clubs. This will
keep them active and busy enough to be away from the
computer.
Set clear limits and rules:
Don't ban the use of Internet - it is an integral
part of most kids' social lives. Instead, establish
rules about where your kids can go online and what
they can do there - and stick to the rules. Establish
rules about when and for how long your child can
surf online. Limit the amount of Internet time your
child is allowed each day, and restrict Internet
use until their homework and chores are done. Rules
definitely help.
Monitor computer use:
Keep your computer in a public area of your house,
not in a child's bedroom. In this way, you can keep
an eye on your child's online activities. While
personal supervision is necessary, do make the efforts
to find out more about the wide range of parental
control and filtering tools that can help keep your
child safe on the internet. Invest in software that
monitors and restricts Internet use. Although these
tools are helpful, keep in mind they can be easily
disabled by a savvy computer user. Your ultimate
goal should be helping your kids to develop self-control,
discipline and accountability on the Internet.
Be a good role model:
Your child looks to you as an example. So you, as
a parent has to make sure that your own computer
use is not out of control. It will be difficult
to enforce rules if your child sees you breaking
them.
