Web Monitoring Services to Help Keep Your Children Safe from Online Predators

Parents are more bombarded than ever by hazards to the safety of their children. The internet is an excellent place to find educational tools for kids. But it's also a place of child predators who have developed ways to groom children for abuse.

Cyber bullies also use the internet as a new avenue for their aggression. Unfortunately, the web has become a perfect platform for these predators for the exact same reason that makes it such a positive place for people without criminal intentions—easy access.

Parents have to take extra steps to keep their kids safe online. Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are extremely popular with teens and even younger kids. Even if parents have forbidden their kids from using these sites, it's easy enough for them to sign up anyway.

You may not be able to stop your kids from using these sites or visiting websites you find objectionable when they are away from their home computer. But there are software options that allow you to block such sites and monitor online activity from your household computers. Below, I introduce to you some software programs that you can buy as well as some that can be downloaded for free.

Do you think monitoring your kid's internet activity is like reading her diary? It may be if you become obsessive about it. But blocking websites that you don't want children to visit is your prerogative as a parent and the head of the household. If you also have good reason to suspect that your child might be involved in inappropriate relationships on the internet, then you could very well be preventing abuse.

You could also help prevent cyber bullying which can lead to emotional problems or even to the physical abuse if the bullies know the kids in person or can access personal information from your computer.

There are plenty of popular software programs. They usually have utilities to block websites and see what places online your kids visit. These include McAfee Family Protection, SafeEyes Parental Control Suite, CyberPatrol, and Net Nanny.

You need to be sure to read the fine print before you buy. Some software companies only offer a 1-year subscription to the service with the purchase of their software. Once that expires, then you have to pay to subscribe again.

You could also try free keylogging and other monitoring services such as KeyLogger. Blue Coat produces the K9 Web Protection program which is free and blocks websites as well as categories you want your kids to avoiding surfing. Keylogging actually records each keystroke made on the computer or computers being monitored. Below are links to freeware.

Being proactive about web monitoring may just keep your family safe from online predators as well as identity thieves.