What are children doing online?

‘Information technology (IT) is boon or bane’ is a topic of endless debate. It has benefitted human beings in several ways. It has empowered us with tools to communicate fast with family and friends. It has provided us with a sea of information on many topics. However, it is up to us to utilise it for our benefit. One can read articles ‘how to become a successful entrepreneur’ and also ‘how to hack someone’s computer’.

These days, school-going children spend a lot of time on computers to interact with their friends, meet new people and get answers to their unanswered questions. Parents are worried and want to keep track of the online activities of their children to know what they are doing. 

It helps them protect children from the harmful content available online and also from online bullies and stalkers. There have been many instances where bullies have harassed children on social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Google Plus.

Technology has provided parents with many monitoring applications to snoop on the activities of their children and sift through information on their computers and e-mail ids. They can instal Key logger applications such as Personal Key Logger, Refrog, Black Box Express, Romaco, etc., to keep a watch on their activities on a local computer or laptop. These applications enable users to see the user ids and passwords of their children and what they have written to their friends.

Parents can subscribe to online monitoring services to receive updates of the activities of their children on the Internet. Online monitoring tools such as Safety Web, Social Shield and GoGo Parental Guidance can be used for a monthly fee of Rs. 500 or more depending on what features are used. 

These websites send users regular updates on the activities of their children online. They also send alerts when potentially harmful activity occurs on profile pages of children. These websites also inform parents when their children talk about sex, violence or suicide online.

Net Nanny is one of the oldest applications available that enables parents to restrict the access of their children to pornographic content or what they consider inappropriate for their offspring.