Kids and the Internet

 

I'm 60 next year, with three grown-up children and three grandchildren.

The real problem is that people of my age, who are often in positions of responsibility deny what they used to get up to when they were children.

Living in Cockfosters, we all knew then that Hadley Wood was teeming with all sorts of perverts. We all knew which shops to avoid, because the owner would try and trap you behind the counter and only last week I spoke to someone, who remembered all the men in raincoats, who used to turn up and watch the kids play cricket.

So we all have a lot of experience and knowledge! But we don't apply it!

None of us ever told our parents about what went on and today the average ten to fifteen year old will not tell his or her parents anything.

We need to break that taboo!

The best way is that most parents know much less than their kids about the Internet. So if you have say an interest in Aston Villa, then ask your child to help you to find out the latest gossip and perhaps meet sad new friends. All children love teaching their parents and others how to do things. So use their knowledge positively.

Only by exploring the good parts of the Internet together and realising how you can avoid the bad and criminal parts of it, will children be protected from predators, and parents and others from some of the insidious scams, such as phishing and the other frauds.

So do it together!