The best way to protect your children from online predators is not to merely install spy software on their computers in order to monitor the places they visit in cyberspace. The best way to keep them safe is to talk to them about the importance of “stranger danger“. The age-old problem is that children will often block out anything that their parents tell them. Spy software, then, is more of a backstop in the event that your children will – despite your best intentions and efforts – find themselves talking to a dangerous person on the other side of a chat room.
Law enforcement officials will tell you that these kinds of perverts know exactly whom they’re trying to reach: Vulnerable or rebellious kids, or ones who feel isolated from their peer groups, can be lured in by those who are all too happy to give them a false sense of security. Teenagers who tend to act as though they are already grown up can stumble into the wrong places online as well. In short, any child who seems to be spending too much time online (which means almost all of them) could be considered at risk.
It may sound like an exercise in futility, but experts advise parents to pull their kids aside and talk to them about their Internet activities, just as they would want to have discussions with them about sex or drug use. And even with all of that under your belt, you still may want to throw a cloak and dagger’s worth of spyware on their computer just in case they’ve been led astray to the point where they would be compelled to deceive.
Spy software allows parents the opportunity to insure that their children are utilizing the Web only in an appropriate manner, and that they are not being stalked by some of society’s worst elements. If you think your child is not being up front with you, or even if you think they are (but still aren’t privy to the reality of the situation), you may want to take steps to protect your loved ones from online predators, if not from themselves.
