As the days get longer and warmer, they herald the coming of summer vacation. Who doesn't remember the joy of lazy days spent roaming the neighborhood with your buddies, swimming in the pool or lake, or inventing games to play in the backyard?
Yet these days our kids are more likely to spend the summer roaming the Internet, swimming in a sea of media, and inventing stories for their Facebook page. How do you get your kids to unplug and see the sun? When they are online, how do you keep your kids safe when they're home free and you're not? Nerd Chicks have scoured the Internet for the best tips and tools to bring the relaxation back to summer vacation.
Most parents struggle with limiting screen time for their kids. From TV and video games, to computers and cell phones, our kids are constantly "plugged in." How can you ensure your kids don't spend all summer glued to the tube? Check out the Mikko Que, a time management system for all of your home media devices. Connect the Mikko box to your TV, gaming unit and Internet connection, then set limits for each of your kids. Everyone gets their own USB thumb drive that stores the time they're allowed. If Sally wants to watch TV, she plugs her thumb drive into the Mikko box, which activates input to the TV for however much time she has remaining in her allotment. If she reaches the end of her allowed time or the time of day that you've decided TV is not allowed (for example, bedtime), the box will warn her that her time is ending, then cut the video and audio feed to the TV, disabling the device. You can set personalized limits for Internet usage, video game play, TV and computer use. Access to the cables is locked in the box, so even your more techno savvy teens would have to break the box to get to the cables. Now if only it could be programmed to remind them to pick up their room!
Limiting the time your kids spend with technology is only the first step. The Internet is a scary place, where your kids will see and learn things you probably don't want them exposed to. They can also unintentionally expose themselves to danger by posting personal information about themselves to public sites such as Facebook and Twitter. While the safest answer is to limit online time to when you are home or with your kids, sometimes that's not realistic. Net Nanny is a great resource to limit the things your children find online, post to the Internet, even install on the computer. More than a list of blocked websites, Net Nanny uses a unique filter that reviews the content of the website before displaying it. Net Nanny uses the site's content to categorize it, and you can allow or block categories for each of your users individually. If you want to allow your older child to see content related to drugs or alcohol, but not your second-grader, you can customize access for everyone in your house. Net Nanny allows you to block image upload, even block your child's ability to post to online forums or blogs. You can set it up to capture where your kids are going online, view a log of IM chat sessions, even review their Facebook profiles so you can see their friends, wall posts and what they are sharing with the world. You can block the installation of games based on their ESRB rating, and set limits to amount and time of day that you want to allow your kids to be on the computer.
Now that so many of our children have cell phones, it seems that they are never without unfiltered access to technology. The safest route is to get in touch with your service provider to disable web access on your child's phone and handheld devices, and limit their texting. Limiting access on a portable device is otherwise quite challenging. While there are some mobile applications (Net Nanny has a mobile application for Android phones), it's harder to keep your child from disabling a third-party application than it is to use parental control features provided by your cell carrier. Call your provider to see what ways they offer to control your child's usage.
Finally, a word of advice: talk to your kids about the limits you're setting and why. If you impose restrictions without a constructive conversation, your techno-savvy kids are likely to spend the summer finding ways around the things you implement to keep them safe. Still stumped about how to keep your kids cyber-safe this summer?
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