Most of us have done a good of job protecting our computers from the Internet these days, but have we taken extra steps to ensure our children are protected from the Internet? The Internet can be a great resource for information, and it is easy to access with almost every home having one or more computers and high speed Internet.  However, because of this ease of access it has also become a haven for scam artists, digital pirates, and individuals involved in different types of exploitation.

There are many solutions to better protect your children from the dark side of the Internet and I would like to go over some of these with you.

There are some simple household management steps such as keeping computers located in an open area of the house where children can be easily supervised. You could also set up a daily family computer schedule so children don't become addicted to computers. Involving children in non computer related activities can keep them occupied and help improve their face to face social skills.  If your children have face book or my space accounts and you don't have one you might want to create an account for yourself and connect with your children through these sites so you can actively be part of their online lives.

The latest Windows and Mac operating systems have some basic built in firewall controls with a feature called parental controls that give you the ability to allow or disallow specific websites. There are also stand alone software solutions to help you with this that provide content control.  These software applications allow you to create individual login accounts with specific age brackets to ensure your children only have access to websites appropriate for them.  If you are having real issues with this and you are unsure what's going on there is also software that can monitor your computer and send you daily reports on where your children are going on the Internet. We also have to keep in mind that now children have other devices that can give them Internet access such as iPhones, iPods, Black Berrys, PSPs, etc. You may require an upgraded router in your house to help manage Internet access for these types of devices.