How Parents Can Watch Over Their Kids IM Use
SOURCE: NYTIMES
Who's There? How Parents Can Be IM Watchdogs
By LARRY MAGID
Published: October 7, 2004
INSTANT messaging and online chat are well on their way to ubiquity. Some 41 percent of all Internet users use IM to communicate in real time, according to comScore Media Metrix, a research group that measures Internet demographics. Among users ages 12 to 17, the proportion is even bigger: 55 percent.
For parents, this raises the question of controlling the risks associated with children's use of these services. Conscientious parents are careful about whom their children associate with, but many of the tried and true methods of monitoring behavior are ineffective when it comes to the Internet. Once a child enters a chat room or opens an instant messaging program, he or she can communicate with just about anyone. Even with a parent hovering nearby, all that can be seen is the sender's screen name, which may have nothing to do with his real identity. It might be a friend, a classmate or perhaps a friend of a friend, but it is also possible that it is a stranger.
But there are tools that allow parents to monitor and restrict children's use of instant messaging services. Controls range from blocking access to limiting your child's contacts, or even controlling what can be typed in an instant message window. The best protection strategy depends on the type...
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