WE CAN HELP YOU WITH SAFE COMPUTING FOR KIDS!

Boston: 781-863-8111        Providence: 401-351-8111 Helping parents with kids and computers. That's our specialty! Kids are fearless when it comes to computers and the internet As parents we joke about how much they know about technology But there are real risks you should be aware of We can help you identify and deal with those risks Call Geek Housecalls and get relief now! For your convenience, we come to you. Call Toll Free: 1-877-472-4335     Send Email     Learn More

Parent's Corner
Computers and Internet access in the home are creating new and different kinds of challenges for parents. Challenges that our own parents never dreamed of... We can help.

Geek Housecalls is a family-friendly business.

At Geek Housecalls, many of our geeks are parents too. We enjoy working with families, and we know that, when it comes to computers, there are certain issues that families face that are unique, not only to the family environment, but even to the various age groups of children in families.

The Internet is a big scary place for parents who are concerned about their children possibly participating in high-risk online behavior. Let's face it, there's no shortage of media hype around the dangers of online chatrooms and well-known networking venues such as myspace.com and others. Hardly a day goes by that some story isn't published about a teen girl being lured to a park or a hotel tryst through the Internet. What, if anything, can a parent do short of pulling the plug and plunging the family back into the information dark ages?

At Geek Housecalls, we're parents too, so we polled our geeks and asked them for suggestions about what parents can do to help protect their children from the seamier side of the Internet, while still promoting wholesome and healthy learning and communications. Not surprisingly, some of the solutions offered were fairly technical, but there were some interestingly non-technical suggestions as well. Below is a compiled list of five ideas that may help families reduce children's participation in high-risk online behavior:

• Start early with the "Don't talk to strangers" approach: Start conditioning your kids early, that is, DON'T wait till they're older and starting to go online! At the youngest age that they start showing an interest in actually using the computer, plan your intervention. Usually around the ages of 3 to 5, kids master the mouse and start to become interested in simple or educational games loaded from CD-ROMs. Even though they're not surfing the web yet, now is the time to start instilling practical rote-learned guidelines like
  • never use your real name on the computer
  • never give out your address or even the town you live in to anyone on the computer
  • never give out your age or phone number to anyone on the computer
  • never give out names or information about your family to anyone on the computer
  
  
• Reduce the opportunity for risk: Consider getting the computers, or at least the Internet access out of the kids' bedrooms. Kids are far more likely to engage in risky behavior or surf inappropriate sites when they are out of sight and earshot of parents and siblings. You don't need to hang over your kid's shoulder all the time, but kids generally know what they "should" and "shouldn't" be doing based on family attitudes and values, and are more likely to steer clear of the "shouldn'ts" with a parent or sibling lurking in the background.

• Participate in the technology: When your kids first start using online chat and personal networking services (usually between ages 8 and 13), think about joining those services yourself, and letting them know that you’re joining. You might be surprised at how much opportunity there is for communicating and bonding with your kids when you approach them on their own terms and in the technology environment that they've become accustomed to. But there's more to think about:
  • Establish your own accounts either immediately when they start using these services, or even in anticipation of their use. Be an online presence for them from the outset and it will likely go over more smoothly than if you were to suddenly show up online a year or two after the fact... that is when you could count on being accused of spying on them!
  • Actively participate! Simply signing up is not enough. Your kids will know if you never sign on!
  Some of our geeks have observed plenty of healthy family relationships that thrive in places like Myspace, Allpoetry, livejournal, and other networking sites as well as through instant messaging. These are the super efficient, super inexpensive, and super cool communication tools our kids use. Get in there and use those tools as a way of strengthening your family instead of undermining it!

• Manage the online environment: If you have high-speed Internet like cable or DSL, consider using a network router that can be programmed to control or restrict access. A well-designed router will not only let you block specific websites, it will also let you set times where Internet access is “turned on” or “turned off” for specific computers. And for any parent that's frustrated by trying to get their teens to bed at a reasonable hour and competing with the lure of the Internet, you can imagine the value of being able to set Internet access to simply "disconnect" at a predetermined time each night, not returning until the following morning.

• Block high-risk sites: If the router approach isn’t practical, consider a personal firewall program on each machine. In general, this type of software can be set to restrict access to certain sites, but being software in a fairly volatile environment, this approach tends to be more error-prone and often more frustrating to the user than a hardware solution like a programmable router.

• We can set you up or show you how to set up accounts for yourself in online chat and social networking services.
• We can provide tutoring in how to effectively navigate and use these services including translation of common "chatspeak" acronyms such as asl=age, sex, location, idk=I don't know, tmi=too much information, etc...
• We can install and configure network routers
• We can install and configure personal firewall software

Most importantly, we're not here to judge you, your parenting style, or your family values. We're here to help you do what you want to do with your computers.