However, there are still many different safety concerns you must consider when allowing your child to have access to the internet. Most browsers and internet-based programs have parental controls that allow you to directly monitor and control your child’s activities. With these controls, you can guide your child to only have access to specific content.

The absolute best way to ensure that your child uses the internet in a safe and educational manner is through direct supervision. By physically monitoring your child’s activities, you can guide them to kid-friendly websites that are appropriate for their age level. Most children will be able to use the internet responsibly after being directly guided by a parent.

As your child learns how to use the internet for educational purposes, you may eventually be able to allow them to browse on their own. With the proper type of parental control software, you will be aware of all of your child’s internet activities. As they grow older, it may even be beneficial for you to purchase them a small, kid-friendly laptop to help them to develop independence.

The first way to track websites visited by your child is by checking the Internet History. Considering there are more browsers used the steps are different accordingly to each one.
Below I will provide the steps you have to take in order to view the websites visited for each browser in part.

Web pages recently visited on Internet Explorer:

1. Click on “My Computer“
2. Go to your computer’s “C drive“
3. Click on “Documents and Settings“
4. Click on your username
5. Click on “Local Settings“
6. Click on “Temporary Internet Files“

To view recent downloads on Mozilla Firefox:

1. Click on the “Tools” tab (found at the top of your browser after it is open)
2. Click on “Options“
3. Click on “Privacy“
4. Click on “Download History“
5. Click on “View download history“

Websites recently visited on Mozilla Firefox:

1. Press the “CTRL” and “H” keys at the same time.

Websites recently visited on Google Chrome:

1. Click on the “Tools” button and select “History“
2. Press the “CTRL” and “H” keys at the same time
3. Hold down the back or forward button for a couple of seconds (if either button is enabled) and choose “Show Full History” from the pop-up menu that appears

A disadvantage of this easy to apply techniques is that your child can easily clean and delete the Internet History after he stops browsing and you will no more be able to track the websites.

Another method to track websites visited by your child is to use parental control software or web sites monitoring software. When I say websites monitoring software, I don’t refer to keyloggers. Keyloggers are recording chat conversation, application running, keystrokes typed, while a web spy will record only the websites visited. In this way you will not invade the child’s privacy and intimacy. A parental control software has the same functionality like a web spy application and more, can block and filter specific sites. This method should be used if there is a need of a stricter surveillance over children.

The disadvantage is that if you are not explaining to the child the need and the reason why this application was installed, he might feel frustrated and become angry on you.

Then, when I was doing some research for today’s article I thought that this issue could be good to discuss about it. And so I discovered that there are parents really concerned about their children activity on gaming and gambling sites.

Many kids use the Internet to play online games. But often when you use search engines to find game sites, you also find gambling sites. Banner ads and pop-ups for casinos are everywhere on the Web. While games sites are free and usually feature card, arcade, puzzle game types with automatic tracking and scoring, gambling sites involve winning or losing actual money.

Due to the nature of Internet, online gambling sites cannot physically check a visitor’s age or prevent them from accessing the site.
However after reading several online releases and visiting online gambling sites (yes I did that to see how `easy` can you sign up), we’ve come up with a list of things that us, as parents, can do to protect our children from online gambling risks.

1. Check where the kids are going online and what they’re doing;
2. Establish rules about what games they can play;
3. Remind them that it is illegal to gamble and explain them how usually gambling works and that it can be addictive;
4. Make sure you check every time they ask you about your credit card number or other personal/financial data;
5. If you use these kind of software, make sure you don’t use the `save password` feature;
6. Create separate profiles for children on your home PCs;
7. Use parental control software.

So when our kids finally grow to the point where they can “log-in” on their own, where do we draw the line of parental control? Do we guide them, nurture them, and feed them to the right path on the Internet, and then hope they make good decisions when we aren’t home to watch them? Or do we put in hard controls that are impossible to break to ensure they don’t do things we wouldn’t like while we are off at work?

Some parents may prefer to simply guide their children naturally into using the computer and the Internet. Building trust between you and your child is a fulfilling practice and is essential if you wish to communicate with your child on an even level. If you can guide your child into successfully developing proper web surfing habits on their own, you will be able to define a high sense of trust and stability between you and your child’s relationships. Your child will be able to pass these habits onto their children when they are a parent, as well.

Sometimes, kids don’t always listen though, right? Installing programs that limit your children’s access to certain websites and software programs don’t have to be trust-breaking. If you’ve warned your children about not viewing particular websites and programs, you can install preventive measure software that won’t let them. It is more like a safety helmet, because even though we tell them to look both ways before they cross, sometimes they forget.

Parental control on the computer is something that children may have to develop into, although in some cases it may be a necessity. Talk to your children about developing proper Internet surfing habits, and then discuss what you can do to make the Internet safer for them.