It’s great to get your children involved with computers from an early age as they are such an integral part of modern life, however it is important that you keep an eye on their internet activity to check that they are safe and not being exposed to things which may be damaging/upsetting to them at such a fragile age. My advice would therefore be to steer clear from chat rooms as much as possible, as the problem is that although they may be designed for children, there is little protection in place to stop others from having access to these facilities and abusing them. Children are vulnerable targets for such people.
Having said this, the internet has its merits, and it is a great way of entertaining children and allowing them to get to grips from technology in a fun and friendly way when the right websites can be found. There is an abundance of websites out there which allow kids to play online, such as www.minimonos.com/, www.cartoonnetwork.co.uk/, www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/ and many more. Any Google search will throw up plenty of websites for you to discover, but it is a good idea to check out these websites yourself first before letting the kids loose on them, just to ensure that they are safe after all. Another great idea is to invest in some child protection software to install on your computer to filter out harmful websites and give that added buffer in case you aren’t around to keep an eye upon their activity.
A final idea for those wanting to let their kids chat is to download something like MSN or another form of chat software, where they can specifically add friends from school without coming across strangers on the web. Tell them not to accept requests from addresses they do not recognise and in that way they will be able to chat safely!
Having said this, the internet has its merits, and it is a great way of entertaining children and allowing them to get to grips from technology in a fun and friendly way when the right websites can be found. There is an abundance of websites out there which allow kids to play online, such as www.minimonos.com/, www.cartoonnetwork.co.uk/, www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/ and many more. Any Google search will throw up plenty of websites for you to discover, but it is a good idea to check out these websites yourself first before letting the kids loose on them, just to ensure that they are safe after all. Another great idea is to invest in some child protection software to install on your computer to filter out harmful websites and give that added buffer in case you aren’t around to keep an eye upon their activity.
A final idea for those wanting to let their kids chat is to download something like MSN or another form of chat software, where they can specifically add friends from school without coming across strangers on the web. Tell them not to accept requests from addresses they do not recognise and in that way they will be able to chat safely!
