The exposure to the Internet has opened avenues of knowledge for children throughout the world. It is a world of wonders that children and adolescents could not even imagine having access to a few decades back. Internet can do a world of good to students. Teachers, parents and children all admit that. But, at the same time, they must all remember that Internet can harm, children and adolescents, too.

Sites risking online privacy of children, sites engaged in inappropriate activities and sites having information misfit for children, are all dangers for children and nightmares for parents.
If parents think that sexual and pornographic materials are the only types of content that they should guard their children against, then they are grossly mistaken. There can be many other categories of harmful content and information available through the Internet, which may pose as greater risks for children.

Sites, having advertisements of tobacco and alcoholic products, propagating the use of drugs, teaching the process of making bombs and explosives, teaching the use of a revolver, teaching ways of acquiring and using a revolver without a license, having online casinos, selling alcohol, drugs, poison or weapons, and teaching easy and often fraudulent ways of earning cash, can be much more hazardous for children than sites having sexual material. Sites abusing education, literature, religion, and sites full of misinformation can do damages that may become irrevocable.

There are a large number of sites that ask the children to share sensitive personal information. Collection of such information is relatively easy when the Internet-user is an innocent kid and thus the entire family can be made a target of an unfair marketing program. Often, unsuspecting divulgence of sensitive data, by the children, can lead parents into serious trouble and can even make them bankrupt.

What parents should do

Before knowing what they should do, parents should first know what they should never do. Parents should never ever forbid the children to use the Internet, telling that it is a place that is “bad” and can harm them. On the contrary, they should highlight the various positives of the Internet in a simplified fashion and encourage children to use it. Forbidding the children, highlighting the dangers of the Internet, will attract the children towards the negatives without delay.

Parents should:

a)    Be around, if possible, when the child is accessing the Internet.
b)    Be a friend and encourage the child to open sites that will help him do his history project or his geography assignment. This will imbibe an idea in the child’s mind that Internet is all about interesting information that is not available in the books.
c)    Block sites that they consider inappropriate for the child’s access.
d)    Educate the child to maintain privacy by not sharing personal information like address and phone number, and sensitive information like bank and credit card details of parents. They should be taught to not buy things online and never to access or lose files that the parents are working on.
e)    Tell the child simple stories about computer crimes to give them a basic idea about the threats the Internet can pose to them and their parents.
f)    Most importantly, imbibe a sense of responsibility and choice in the child’s mind, so that no matter which computer he accesses the Internet from, or what site he reaches, he can have the judgment to know what is bad and what is good.

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