Internet safety is the hot button topic right now in the parenting world. And it should be. After a decade of growing use of the World Wide Web, the dangers are now more present than ever. Parents of the 21^st century aren't so concerned with "look both ways before you cross the street" and "don't talk to strangers"... mainly because more so now than ever (it is really alarming) kids are inside and online instead of outdoors getting exercise - but that is a whole different hub page...

Instead, here I'd like to present a few arguments and rationales for taking the major step that some parents are reluctant to take: monitoring your children's computer activity with the use of software (specifically, PC Pandora - my personal favorite).

First: education is key... but it takes time to educate kids - and YOU (as a parent) need to be educated first. Education starts with research and knowledge. Part of the knowledge you need is what your child is really up to...

The DANGERS:

The two most obvious dangers threatening young users are sexual predators and cyberbullying...

• Predators will troll the net looking for victims to lure in and become friends with. They will earn a child's trust and build a relationship up to the point where the child is comfortable meeting with them in real life. Many predators get caught by undercover officers, but even more don't get caught. And while statistics will say 1 in 5 (sometimes it's 7) kids are solicited online, that is only the results of a survey assuming kids answered truthfully. How many kids HAVE been contacted but didn't admit to it. And let's not forget that many of these predators assume identites of your child's peer - not an older guy looking for sex. Furthermore, many cases of a sexual predator getting caught with a victim aren't until the 2^nd, 3^rd or 4^th time around. Meaning the child (minor) was consensual more than once. Therefore, kids are becoming friends with predators and agreeing to meet up and agreeing to have sex with these perverts. It IS happening. How would you know if your child was doing this...?

• Cyberbullying is the new major threat to underage users. No longer do you have to be the big and tough bully on the playground - now you can just be bored with an Internet connection. Anybody can say anything on the Internet, and they san say anything to everybody. Not only that, but the degree to which some of the bullying has escalated would make XXX movies seems like a Disney feature. Kids are vile and cruel towards each other. But how would you know if your child was a victim... or worse - the bully?!

Aside from these two common occurrences are bad habits like posting too much personal information, plagiarizing school papers (kids really think there is nothing wrong with this in today's world) and illegally downloading music and movies (which parents can be held responsible and serve jail time for). Would you know if your child had riske photos of themselves online or were simply cutting-and-pasting a term paper?

All of these reasons point to the need for parents to monitor their child's Internet activity.

The CONS:

But let's look at the most common resistance to this notion: what about my child's privacy?

Easy - be your own parent. You can choose what information you really dig through. Some parents need to monitor just as a backup. Others need to monitor because they don't have a good relationship with their child, but they still have the child's best interest at heart. And some monitor, simply to learn the truth - that their child (you can guarantee) is not telling them.

And while I agree kids do deserve privacy, who says they are trustworthy? Since when did we start assuming a teenager will always make a rational decision or tell the truth? Especially when it comes to something like talking to and older male friend.

The REALITY:

The fact is: kids are kids. They are young and they are learning. They also don't know a world without the Internet. They don't realize that the WWW stands for WORLD WIDE web. They don't realize that anything they say can come back and haunt them and that everyone on the web with them is not necessarily who they say they are.

It's for these reasons that parents need to monitor their child's Internet usage and TALK to their children about it.

The SOLUTION:

There are lots of different products out there, but I have actually found one that I like very much and has all the good features: PC Pandora. I am a huge advocate for them for a few reasons, small company, GREAT product and very very cost effective ($50 or less ONCE for peace of mind for years!)

A brief summary - the software will record all activity via screen capture (think of it like TiVo for your PC), it has a key logger, records specifically emails and IM chats. AND you can even get email updates while at work (which I found INCREDIBLY helpful). Of course you can filter websites and block certain applications for running. All in all, it's the best all-around protection you can get...

But don't take my word for it - see for yourself and check them out: http://pcpandora.com/

Below is the trailer for Frontline's episode "Growing Up Online". If you are interested in watching the full episode, you can do so here: Growing Up Online.

Okay... Below are excerpts from the infamous To Catch a Predator series on Dateline NBC. The show has come under scrutiny for employing the independent organization known as Perverted Justice (PJ) to set up the stings online; PJ's tactics have been called into question, with many questions of legality and entrapment. All that aside, the guys they are arresting are REAL... and the videos are still funny and horrifying.

The video may take a bit to load as #1 is 8 minutes and #2 is over 10. It's worth the wait. As always, remember the content is a bit shocking and not for little ones... Enjoy.