Your child is spending hours and hours on the Internet and you have totally no idea what he/she is doing. Obviously if you asked, your child will never tell you. Now, Norton has come up with a free service to monitor you kid’s internet usage; where he/she has been and what do they do on the net. It is now available globally in 25 different languages when it was previously only available in English.
Norton Family Online is easy to use; just register for an account on the website and register each computer in the house that you wish to monitor. The whole concept behind this is that it allows both parents and child to discuss openly about house rules and block objectionable content on top of learning about how your child represents him/herself online as well as their regular searches. Whenever your child tries to access any blocked sites, you will receive alerts the he/she has done so. You can even monitor their instant messaging and social sites.
As a parent, I think there is a limit to how much a parent should monitor. This is exceptionally good for younger children especially when you don’t want them to be exposed to porn or illegal things online at a young age. However, if your child is older and should be able to think responsibly, I think as a parent, you should not invade their privacy. No one likes to be monitored for their searches, especially by parents.
I think most of all, monitoring instant messaging is the most unethical. It is true that you don’t want your child to chat with strangers and end up getting into trouble or getting scammed. Thankfully, there is a certain degree of control Norton Family Online provides. You can opt to either block new friends, monitor their chats or even just totally switching off chat supervision. My guess is that Norton is catering this for different age groups. So I think it all depends on trust; can you trust your child to do the right thing? And can your child trust you to not secretly switch on chat monitoring?
I believe using a monitoring system protects your child yet at the same time might push your child to the edge if not used properly. Be transparent and explain to your child the reasons you’re doing this. With more communication, parents and child will come to a better understanding.