Digital Parenting and Child Safety

There are three kinds of parents: The “helicopter” parents who hover over their children, guarding their every moment. The second are the “absent” parents, who are those that apparently don’t care or in some cases don’t even know of their child’s existence. The third kind, are those who know that raising a child is full time 24/7 endeavor. They watch over their kids but don’t smother them.   They realize that there are “seen” and “unseen” things you need to do to make sure your children are safe and well cared for as they grow up.

Learning to navigate through a hostile world outside of your family setting has not changed much. If anything, the dangers to our children have increased almost a thousand fold as new technology makes its way into our daily lives. Today’s parents have a host of things to worry about that they never contemplated when they were young themselves. These things can be anything from the horror of an elementary school massacre, to the threat of a pedophile being invited into your child’s bedroom through their computer, tablet or cell phone.

Computers and smart phones are tools. Like any tool, it is only safe if used with the proper protective gear or in this case software. Each is an indispensable ways to teach, communicate, and explore the universe in a way children never have had before. The entire world and all its wonders are only a click away. In the hands of a predator, those same smart phones and computers enable them to select potential victims from the safety and privacy of their own homes.

The United States Department of Justice stated that by the mid 1980’s child pornography was almost eradicated completely though a series of campaigns lead by law enforcement. That statement changed due to the use of the internet and digital devices. "The Internet provides ground for individuals to create, access, and share child sexual abuse images worldwide at the click of a button. In present day, child pornography images are readily available through virtually every Internet technology including websites, email, instant messaging/ICQ, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), newsgroups, bulletin boards, peer-to-peer networks, and social networking sites. Child pornography offenders can connect on Internet networks and forums to share their interests, desires, and experiences abusing children in addition to selling, sharing, and trading images. Moreover, online communities have promoted communication between child pornography offenders, both normalizing their interest in children and desensitizing them to the physical and psychological damages inflicted on child victims. Online communities may also attract or promote new individuals to get involved in the sexual exploitation of children.” (DOJ)

Take a minute and look around you. How many parents let their little kids use their tablet or smartphone for a toy, or a means of distraction? Children are much more technologically savvy than the last few generations. I watched my nephews learn to read so they could play computer games online. They were six. My niece is four and regularly asks to “play the Princess games on Disneyjr.com”, or “cook” on her mom’s iPad. How many of us have laughed when a little kid toddles over to the TV and tries to “swipe” the screen to change the page?

We’re in a world where adults fall prey to hundreds of different internet scams every day; Identity thieves are trying to gain access to your bank account, con artists are looking for a quick score, and sick individuals are looking to prey on the innocent, how can a parent expect a child to navigate the web ALONE in safety? While parents may think that their child is in their room playing online video games with their friends or surfing the net gathering information for a class project, a predator could be getting ready to strike.

SpySite.com can provide a means to extend that “unseen” hand of protection to cover your children as they navigate the World Wide Web. We can give parents the technology to preemptively ACT and REACT to threats that seek out your children through their PC, Mac, Smart Phone or Tablet.

SpySite can give parents the ability to monitor each and every move their child makes on the internet with their computer or smart phone. Parents can have the option of having a detailed report of their online activities sent to their email account on a schedule they set, or they can have the same information sent to a hidden file on the computer that you are monitoring that only YOU know how to find and retrieve.

With a system so easy to use, even a computer novice can install and run the program in minutes. Installation is not only simple, but it can be discrete by removing installation records, which can be done with a click of a mouse. In a few short years the internet has gone from a neat experimental way to exchange information to an indispensable tool that has improved people’s ability to connect and share information. Twenty years ago, personal computers with the ability to talk to people around the globe were the stuff of science fiction movies. Today, it’s just another convenience of modern life, a seemingly innocuous thing that, in the wrong hands, could prove deadly.

A parent’s job is the hardest one on earth, guiding a child through the various pitfalls and triumphs that happen daily, all the while hopefully giving them the skills to protect themselves, to go out into the world ALONE. There will be moments when you can’t be there in person, or when you seemingly have to stand back as they get “older” and let them “figure it out on their own.”

SpySite.com can help parents with the tools that help keep children safe.