A PC Pandora Fan's Page

PCPandoraFan — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 11:06:15 CST

I am just a normal guy. A normal average human being -- with a vested interest in online safety. In the past year, I have decided to fight for a cause - and I chose Internet safety for kids, specifically the education of adults. Why this topic? Because the answer is right there! People just need to listen! For adults, online safety means virus protection, not answering suspicious emails, and using secure servers on verified websites when purchasing items online...

But for parents and kids it means something entirely different. It means being astute and vigilant. If you are a child, it means knowing who you are talking to and not revealing to much about yourself – even to someone you think is a friend. It means not saying or doing anything that can hurt others or come back and hurt your reputation later (e.g. when you are applying for college). It also means knowing what is being said about you.

If you’re a parent, it means knowing what your child is doing.

While websites may deploy their own safety measures (i.e. MySpace), these are broad, general, and – in effect – pointless. Cops are all over the net looking for predators, and they are making strides, but when it comes to bullying – anyone can hide behind the first amendment. In short, the first and best line of defense to keeping kids safe online is simple: good parenting. And good parenting starts with “knowledge”… knowledge of what is happening online, in general and within the world your child explores.

First you have to educate yourself. Go to MySpace. Read the news. Visit pages you hear about. You can’t understand something if you don’t know what it is. This is incredibly true with the Internet and technology. So do yourself a favor and educate yourself.

Second, you need to talk to your kids. Within this step you must find out what they do, who they talk to and where they like to go. Get usernames, passwords, buddy names. And for heaven’s sake, BE A PARENT! Set rules and lay down the law. You are not given a driver’s license at birth; you have to earn the privilege to drive through tests, trials and good behavior. Surfing the net should be no different. No child should ever think the Internet is their right and that they should have free reign. If they do, that is just bad parenting at work.

The last key element is the easy one to do when you take advantage of and utilize tools given to you: monitor. You must monitor your child’s activity!

Monitoring has several degrees to it. You don’t have to snoop, you don’t have to spy, you can just review. It all depends on what your needs are and what your agreement is with your child. But there is no reason to completely ignore the activity of your young user all together.

One company has come up with the solution that every parent needs – because it can perform so many different functions and fulfill so many levels of desired help.

PC Pandora is monitoring software. The main function is the screen captures. The program essentially records all content by taking intermittent snapshots of the desktop and the activity happening.

Think of it like a DVR for your PC. You don’t have to wade through dozens of long websites or sift through keystroke data to see exactly what they saw and what they did. It’s actually quite amazing.

Now, if you want to see the websites they visited (a log thereof) and view key strokes, you can. You can also see a log and transcripts of emails, IM chats, programs run and peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing.

Of course, the program also comes with basic Internet filtering and program blocking functions. It will also send you non-screen capture updates via email – for when you are at work (the IRIS feature).

So, if you have a good relationship with your child and just want the extra back-up – or if you find it impossible to talk to your child and need help keeping their safety in check, PC Pandora is your solution. On their website, it is less than $50. But if you search around you may be able to dig up a coupon code and get it cheaper. Either way, for less than the cost of a dinner at a restaurant, you can make the one-time investment and feel safe and secure.

Educate yourself. Talk to your kids and protect them by watching. Knowledge is power. Powerless adults can’t protect their kids… and, let’s face it – sometimes teens need to be protected from themselves!!!

Visit http://pcpandora.com/ for more info on them. I can’t recommend this software enough to parents. It is essential to know what is really happening.

Also, here is another website, dedicated to the issue of monitoring computer activity:

Monitoring Child Internet Activity: Essential Parenting

A great home made Internet Safety PSA by Ryan Chatel. Pretty creative.

An interesting video from a session with Chris Pirillo on Child Computer and Internet Safety. Very cool and touches upon some great tips.

These next two are from Dateline NBC's To Catch a Predator series. Perverted Justice, the organization that helps nab these guys online, has been called into question on the legality of their tactics -- but the videos are still real and really horrifying.

This one is a compilation of 7 guys!

Take a look at the "trailer" for the Frontline "Growing Up Online" episode.

If you want to watch the full episode, go here: Growing Up Online

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