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Why Parents Block Websites from their Children


By Sonia Jackson, Guest Contributor to TechAddiction

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in guest articles are solely those of the author and are not necessarily the views of TechAddiction and/or Dr. Conrad.


In a world where access to information is ever expanding, parents are must seriously consider what they want their children to be exposed to and what they permit them to see online. If they are not careful, parents risk losing control over what their children do online and the type of content they consume.

Thankfully, web hosts and independent software companies do provide parents with the tools they need to regulate what their young ones are able to see on the internet. What are some of the more common reasons parent chose to monitor and block the online activities of their children?

Pornography

Perhaps the largest single reason to use parental control software is the huge amount of Internet pornography that can fill your browser window even if you are not searching for it.

Denizens of the Internet often joke that 90% of the whole web consists of pornography. While this statistic is more myth than reality (more realistic estimates of the
number of pornographic websites range from 5% to 12%), there is no denying that pornography is a major part of the Internet. In fact, the average age of first exposure to pornography is 11. Additionally, a recent study found that 42 percent of Internet users ages 10 to 17 had been exposed to online porn in the last year and that two thirds of this was unwanted exposure.

Religious Reasons, Moral Beliefs, and General Values

Families that are religious or who have moral beliefs that they wish to pass on to their children may worry about the some of the messages that their children receive online. These parents may want to bring up their children using the tried and tested methods of their own parents.

Some would argue that this is indoctrination as it may prevent children from being exposed to other points of view. Regardless of how some feel, it’s ultimately up to the parents of the child as to how they are raised and the sort of media that they are exposed to.

Unrestricted access to the internet is not a right and it is certainly not a requirement of good parenting. In fact, one could argue the opposite. That is, a parent who allows their child to have unrestricted  and unlimited online access is almost certainly exposing him or her to many online dangers and may be well advised to take a more active role in their child's life. When it comes to the Internet and children, it is probably best to be too involved rather than not involved enough.  

Internet Scams

Unscrupulous sites will attempt to steal private and financial information - something that even many adults fall for. Although being the victim of fraud and various other scams won’t be as common amongst very young children, teenagers may need more protection via parental control software or malware blocking programs.

Online Predators

Sexual predators that target young children are an unfortunate reality of life online. Vulnerable young children are
groomed and sexually targeted on the Internet every day. While some predators are content to chat online this can still be very damaging to the child...and many predators will take this even further and attempt to meet his victim in person.

Parents can reduce the risk of online predators by blocking certain websites and chat rooms. It’s true that there is always a chance of encountering these people but chat rooms and unauthorized forums are often the places where online predators lurk.

Nobody can blame a parent for blocking websites in this scenario. Note that simply blocking certain websites and using parental control software is not enough. It is absolutely essential that parents monitor the websites that their children frequent and talk to them about the potential dangers online.

For more information see this
list of tips on how to protect children from online predators.

Guest Author Bio

My name is Sonia Jackson. I represent the web-site Custom Essay Writing. We’ll help you to solve all problems with writing essays and research papers in a short time. We’ll answer all your questions and give you useful advice.

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