In today’s technologically advanced society, keeping children off of the Internet is probably not feasible. Whether at school, a friend’s house or in your own home, computers that are connected to the Internet are easily accessible. As a parent, your goal is to manage your child’s Internet access in a way that fits within the values and rules that have been established in your household. In addition to sharing those values and rules with your teen, there are several things you can do to minimize the risks to your child when he or she is online:

First, talk with your teen. Spend time with your child while they are online. Visit age-appropriate sites and discuss your values about reasonable Internet use.

Put the computer in a common room. The computer should sit in the kitchen or living room with the monitor facing out toward the room rather than toward the wall.

Say "explain this to me." If you see something on the computer screen that you do not understand, ask your teen to tell you about it.

Maintain access to your child’s online accounts (e.g. email, blogs). Let your child know that you will randomly check them.

Use parental controls or blocking software. While these can be useful tools, they should not be the only resource used to protect your children while they are online. Software should never take the place of parental monitoring and conversations between you and your teen.

Create your own profile if you are concerned about a specific social networking (e.g. www.myspace.com) website. This will "open more doors to you" in the website and give you a better idea of what your child is seeing and reading.

Remind your teen that they should never arrange a face-to-face meeting with someone they meet online, post personal pictures, share identifying information or download materials from an unknown source.

Trust your instincts when it comes to a website’s content. If you are not comfortable, there is probably a reason.