As reported by Common Sense Media, on average, tweens (ages 10-12) are on some sort of device or having screen time an average of 6 hours/day- for teenagers, that number is a staggering 9 hours/day. *
SAY WHAT?
This number floored me. And this is coming from a tween who is a Minecraft playing/coding/You Tube channeling guru who chooses to be online doing his thing whenever he has the time for it.
It’s a whole new world out there people. When I was a tween, we got the original Macintosh and I think I went on it for a couple of minutes here and there once a week.
Today’s child is growing up in a digital age and as parents we need to be vigilant to what they are doing, how much time they are spending doing it and who they are talking to while doing it.
Digital threats to today’s child include:
- Tech addiction
- Cyberbullying
- Online predators
- Accessing pornography
- Sexting
Geesh. And no matter how responsible you are – or how much you trust your kid(s) – some of these things can slip through. I truly believe both of my boys have good heads on their shoulders and while they would never engage with an online predator, look for porn or be the victim of cyberbullying, YOU NEVER KNOW.
Net Nanny is an online filtering software that allows you to monitor what your child is doing online. You can block what needs to be blocked (porn, profanity & more) and you can manage their online time. You can limit their computer or device to only work at certain times of day and you can track what sites they are using the most. It covers social sites too like Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat and more.
What are you guys doing to stay on top of your kids online escapades? Do you use any sort of online monitoring tool? As I told you guys in the video above, I’m currently using NetNanny.
What it does
Net Nanny is an online monitoring tool that you set up with parental controls. You can:
-block websites with inappropriate content (pornography, profanity, etc.
-manage the amount of time they spend online (and set limits if you so choose)
-get an understanding of where and what they are doing online
-monitor their social media interaction (Facebook, Instagram, etc. – check for cyber-bullying)
-receive alerts and reports via email on all of this
-customize ALL of this to work the way YOU want it (this is my favorite piece of the software!)
It all runs silently in the background of your child’s computer, smart phone or tablet. How sweet is that.
If you are interested in checking out NetNanny – I have a special trial available only to Mom blogger readers so check it out – you’ll have 14 days to play with it and see what you think: Free Trial with NetNanny
* from Common Sense Media and Influence Centrals 2016 Digital Trends Study
Disclaimer: This has been a sponsored post. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
I think the Internat can be rather dangerous for kids, so it is good to find so informative article from you. Thank you. But I consider that kids should have an Internat access till they are fourteen, or when they have a good mind for what they are going to do there. You can’t block everything, something will find the way to get your kid. Everything that can you do only explaine your children what expect and to do, when such sutiation appeared. Of couse, they should tell you to remove that and explaine. So, it’s only my thoughts)