SmutScanner Logo
menuimage Home menuimage
menuimage Purchase menuimage
menuimage Articles menuimage
menuimage Screenshots menuimage
menuimage Demo Version menuimage
menuimage FAQ menuimage
menuimage Contact menuimage

Be careful what your kids are doing on the Internet

Do you know for sure what your kids are doing online? Most teenagers are members of social network sites, such as MySpace or Facebook. It can be a great way to keep in touch with your friends, but it can also be a dangerous place for young, unexperienced people.

Some teenagers publish very private things about themselves online that they would never tell their parents. Ironically, if an internet predator catches sight of your child's MySpace page, they now know more private things about your child than you do. Kids sometimes don't think about the permanency of everything that's published online. For example, private pictures posted online can quickly spread online and once it is copied by someone else it is no longer under your control. Some girls, even those under 18, have had their private pictures used on pornography sites.

Another frightening aspect of posting pictures online is that even if your children only show them to their friends, you can never know what the friends do with them. Once the first copy is made it can spread quickly. And the scary thing is, no matter how careful you are, bugs in the social networks can still expose your private pictures to the world.

The conclusion is that it is very important to keep an eye on what your child is doing on the Internet. One option is to monitor the Internet traffic in your household at the router level, but that can be difficult and requires specialised knowledge and equipment. An easier option is to install a monitoring tool such as SmutScanner on your child's computer. No matter which option you choose, remember to discuss the dangers present on the Internet with your child first and make sure they understand why you are monitoring their activities.
Posted: 2009-04-15