Why Parents MUST Monitor Their Children's Internet Usage

I must say this is one of the dumbest questions I have seen. Why are parents concerned about their children's on-line activities, could it be because they have an IQ that is over fifty. Any adult who pays any attention to what is going on in the world and what can happen to children who use the Internet without parental supervision should be concerned about their children's on-line activities. Pedophiles prowl the Internet for victims. A third of all Internet sites in the world involve pornography. The news channels prominently display pictures of casualties of war. Social networking sites not only allow but encourage children to post their relationship status along with their sexual preferences.

Many children especially teens have no idea how today's action have the ability to impact the rest of their lives. Today when a teen applies to a college many colleges will check each prospective students face-book or my space page. These pages tend to be filled with photos. If you ask the teens who posted the photos they will tell you that each photo is innocent and just shows him or her having fun with their friends. What educators, parents and other adults see are pictures that can haunt children for the rest of a that child's life. Photos that appear innocent to teens may actually fall into the category of child pornography. Other photos that show teens at parties may show teens engaging in illegal activities including drinking underage and using illegal drugs - drugs from marijuana to cocaine and crack.

Another potential horror of unsupervised use of the Internet is the teen and a parents credit card. While Internet companies require uses to post their age there is no independent verification of the age and owner of the actual credit card. I know that companies indicate that if a credit card is used illegally the credit card company will reimburse the owner of the card however the credit card company is also going to go after the person who used the card illegally and most parents are not going to allow their child to be investigated and prosecuted for a crime that often time is based on stupidity and instant gratification. I know that when i was a teen I "borrowed" my mothers credit card for a couple of days and went on a small spending spree. I got in trouble with my parents but there was not any police involvement and my parents information was not posted all over the Internet which is what can happen when a teen uses his or her parents credit card on the Internet as more often then not the site the teen uses is one that is not a safe site.

One fast last point often teens have access to Internet services outside of their homes and outside of the supervision of their parents. These are just a few of the reasons that parents are worried about their children's use of the Internet. The list goes on and on and on and as the Internet gets bigger and as our children get more sophisticated on using the computer it is going to become more and more important to not just monitor their child's Internet use they may have to install programs that block out the most extreme and dangerous programs. All in the name of love.