I will call these communications "less than that of a gentleman," and I'm the first to admit my daughter actions were not appropriate, but I recognized it was a mistake of immaturity. I learned a new word: Cyberbullying. It took a call over his Mom to get them removed, but they were posted for weeks before I found out what was going on from my daughter. It was my first lesson in watching and teaching what my daughters do on the Internet. Nothing is private on the Internet.
Like Having Anti-Virus Protection for Your Children
The experience resulted in a long conversation with my daughter, which I thought resolved my teenager security issues. Just two weeks after that, I happened to catch my youngest daughter chatting on the computer at 3 am. These back to back experiences made me seek out parental control software. This exercise alone made my eyes pop out as to what is going on out there, and what danger kids are exposed to.
I looked and tried a few, but it was KidsWatch that really worked best for me. Once installed, I set up their email alert service that automatically sends me emails when my daughters do something I think I should know about. Since the software has been installed, I have received some notification I shudder to think of what might have happened if I didn't have the service installed:
- Our home address and phone numbers were given to an adult male stranger from another state through a chat room.
- One of my daughter's friends showed her how to download illegal music MP3's and movies still in the theaters. By the way, parents are responsible for copyright violations from illegal downloads.
- "Secret" email addresses were being created without my knowledge.
- Less than appropriate websites were being visited.
- Chat conversations were sent to me with the discussions of cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol.
- Sexting, another new word for me, was going on with one of my daughter's friends. I quickly alerted her Mom, and she is now a KidsWatch customer too.
Kids will make mistakes as they grow up. I have been able to use the KidsWatch email alerts as a teaching tool. And of course, KidsWatch alerts me immediately, so I know when to step in and prevent a potential bad or dangerous situation from occurring. I don't know about you, but I would think of surfing the web with anti-virus protection to protect my computer from viruses and spyware. I look at KidsWatch as anti-virus for my children. Not only do I protect my computer, I protect those that operate it.
Benefits and Education I Didn't Expect
KidsWatch comes with tons of features and benefits I started using after I installed the software. I bought the software for its award winning parental controls, but here are some bonus features I use regularly. By the way, any of these screenshots will take you to the KidsWatch website for more information.
KidsWatch Parental Control Software Review
I am a much better online Mother today, then I was a few years ago. If you haven't noticed by now, I spend most of my computer time on the Internet shopping. Web browsing and email are my primary uses. My two daughters, as I would come to realize, use the Internet in a very different manner.
If I were to consider myself a kite flyer, they are astronauts as far as it goes with what they do on a computer. And it is not just my kids, it's all their friends too. Hopefully, you too can relate to the beginning of my story.
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Our children live in a high paced digital world we adults may not fully comprehend. If you ever had to ask your teen how to do something on your cell phone, you know what I mean. They Facebook, Tweet, YouTube, MySpace, Email, and Chat. In essence, we have blindly given our kids keys to a cyber car we haven't taught them to drive responsibility, because we don't know how to drive this cyber car ourselves.
My awakening came when my oldest daughter had her first teen boyfriend. He seemed like a nice kid, until they broke up. When they broke up, he posted many of their "private" communications on his own Facebook pages.
Computer Time Limits
I have to say, I am blessed with daughters that get great grades in school, but there are times when I feel the need to limit the amount of time my daughters spend on the computer. Especially when a new boyfriend comes around. Chats can go on forever.
KidsWatch lets me set limits for each of my daughters and those limits are totally customized by day, time of day, and amount of time per day. My oldest has to finish her homework and personal computer time by 9 pm, and my younger daughter by 8 pm. There is no computer time before school. There were some early complaints, but over time, my daughters have learned to be respectful and responsible with their computer time. They do say there should be an adult version for shoppers like me, so in support of the overall family goal, I limited my own computer time, and I used the web blocker to block sites that don't offer enough sales.
Block Inappropriate Websites
One of the great things about KidsWatch is that it comes preloaded with tons of settings, and sorted by the age of your child. So when you first install it, all you have to tell KidsWatch to use the default settings for the age group of your kids. Very cool. Look at all the types of websites that are automatically blocked, adult, violence, porn, obscenity, and much more.
Remember I told you above one of my daughters gave out her address and phone number to an adult male from another state? My daughter signed on to an Internet dating site and made up a fake profile where she said she was 25. Thanks again KidsWatch!
Internet dating sites were quickly added to the blocked list, along with another lesson for my curious daughter. Imagine you had to make a list of all the Internet websites you wouldn't want your kids to visit. It's impossible to get them all, and the best thing is that you can add to the list as you see fit.
Registered Sex Offenders
How many registered sex offenders live in your neighborhood? Wow! I hope you are not as surprised as I was. KidsWatch has a feature called Predator Watch that shows you how many registered sexual offenders live in your area and exactly where they live.
It also shows you where they work, which is good because they don't have to live near you to be a threat. For the most part, you can see their pictures, and you wouldn't think they are dangerous, but you will also see their history of convictions and that will change your mind.
Award Winning Software
I realize KidsWatch is probably not going to be a gift idea you will buy for someone else, but it is a gift you can give your family. While the occurrences of email alerts I have received over the years are not large in quantity, the quality of knowing what my daughters are doing, in real time, has been a Godsend.
KidsWatch is easy to install, and if you're not a computer savant like me, I suggest you also download the step by step Installation PDF, which makes installing KidsWatch a breeze.
KidsWatch Discount
And you don't to take just my word on how great this product is. You can visit the KidsWatch Testimonials Page and quotes from parents all over the world that used KidsWatch to protect their families too. You can:
- Buy the Software right away and Save $28.90 on the full package. It comes with a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee.
- Try the 15 Day Demo, it's fully functioning, and you get to try it before you purchase it.
Either way, I'm sure you are going to love this program for many years to come, and just having one security experience is well worth the cost. Thank you for time, and I hope this article goes a long way in helping you protect your family.
-Cassandra Lee
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