While my kids haven’t yet discovered the internet, I know they will be moving toward that quickly. Our generation of moms is dealing with something our parents never had to handle – kids surfing the great wide internet for who knows what. While you don’t want to look over your kids’ shoulders, you do want to make sure they are kept safe.
Last month, Symantec, the company that produces the very popular Norton products, has just introduced a new and free downloadable program that let’s parents see what their kids are doing online, including what sites they have visited, what searches they’ve conducted, and for how long. It works even if you aren’t in the same town or same house as your children.
To use, visit the Norton Online Family Web site, sign up and create a family account. Then, download and install the Norton Safety Minder on each computer. The program is available for both PCs and Macs. Because it’s web-based, parents can view their kids’ activities in real-time, and from remote locations.
In my opinion, this software is best used if parents incorporate it into regular rules and open dialogue about computer usage, including internet privacy and safety. I’m so glad Symantec is offering it to all families free of charge.
