With a variety of Internet-enabled gadgets given to younger children this year, many parents are facing what could be a virtual “open door” to the Internet, potentially exposing their kids to sexual abusers and other criminal activity.
Because of that, Fayette County Sheriff’s Investigator Josh Shelton urges parents to take several steps to monitor and restrict their children’s Internet access.
“You can’t be right over the shoulder of a child 24 hours a day when they have devices like this,” Shelton said, noting that the average age a child is exposed to pornography is 11.
Parents can program their wireless Internet router to restrict certain computers from accessing the Internet overnight, for example, Shelton said. Doing so requires determining the device’s unique MAC address and programming the router to shut off the Internet access for certain hours in the day for that particular device.
Those unfamiliar with these steps can usually consult their wireless router’s user manual or the manufacturer’s website for such details.
But if that’s a bit too technical for you, Shelton suggests unplugging the wireless router altogether at night. In most instances, parents could still surf the Internet via a wired connection to their modem or instead access the Internet on their smartphone.
“To me, the Internet is like an open window to the world, and you wouldn’t leave your children exposed to a stranger with a real open window,” Shelton said.
Shelton strongly urges parents to password-protect their wi-fi routers.
Another way to keep an eye on the kids’ Internet usage is to check the history on their device, Shelton said. Of particular interest are any gaps in the usage logs, he added.
“You’re not looking for that is there, but what is not there,” Shelton advised.
Shelton recommends checking Internet history instead of relying on specialized security monitoring software.
“Your kids know how to disable that stuff better than you know how to put it on,” Shelton said. “If you put that on and you go to sleep, the kids are like ‘control, alt, F4 … disabled.’”
It can be easy for kids to discern the security software, because it will slow down their device’s performance, Shelton noted.
It’s important for parents to know that non-cellphone devices such as iPods and wi-fi tablets like the iPad and Kindle Fire can have text messaging and instant messaging applications loaded onto them so they function more like a cellphone.
“Just because it’s not a cellphone does not mean they can’t use it to text,” Shelton said. “They absolutely can. You can even get issued a phone number with some of these apps.”
And it’s not just Internet-enabled devices but also data-enabled smartphones that parents have to worry about.
Part of parenting a child in the Internet age also means setting down ground rules, and Shelton encourages parents to set up contracts with their children outlining what appropriate usage is, and the consequences for violating the rules.
“Kids are smart: they know what’s right and what’s wrong,” Shelton said.
