Chapter 3
Good Common Sense (The internet is like a city)
When I was a kid back in the 60's and 70's, I grew up in the quintessential suburban city. I could basically go anywhere my bicycle could take me, as long as I was home by dark. Hey, it was 30 years ago! We used to be allowed to do that. Anyhow, in the big city, things were different. I was not allowed to leave my parents' sight. A kid could get lost, or worse.
That's the basic difference between allowing your kids to play on a computer and letting your kids play on a computer with internet access. Access to the web puts your kids in the position of going anywhere, contacting anyone.
This chapter uses the analogy of living in a comfortable, secure neighborhood, and periodically venturing into the city outside. If you live in an apartment in Queens, you still get the picture.
What happens when you travel to the big city? Well, you have business to do, or you wouldn't be there. So you take care of your business, then return home.
I know someone who lived in L.A. for a couple of years in the early 80's. He didn't go anywhere without his trusty Thomas Brothers map. That one-inch-thick book allowed him to traverse a bewildering collection of freeways and not get lost. It also kept him out of the bad spots. Yeah, there are a few of those in southern California ;-).
Likewise, surfing the 'net requires knowing where you are going.
You, as a parent, can provide this map.
I'm going to be touching lightly on procedures for using software to accomplish your aims. This is NOT a technical manual, it's advice for safe surfing. If you need more help with XP or your web browser than I can offer here, it can easily be obtained using the internet's vast resources of help available through search engines. One of my favorite technical resources for Windows is run by a friend of mine, Leo Notenboom. You can Ask Leo just about anything!
If you are running Windows XP, you are able to create individual user logins. If you do this for each of your kids, then their profiles are saved in whatever web browser you use. Let me state right here that I recommend that you use a browser other than Internet Explorer. I make this statement based on keeping your computer secure. I prefer and heartily recommend Firefox. More on this subject in chapter 5. IE does support the individual profiles mentioned above, if you insist on ignoring my advice.
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