Dave and Bill  

Archived Blog Post

Date / Time: 6/23/2008 7:42 AM UTC

PC Pandora... Pandora's Box Opened Again - Parenting In The 21st Century Just Got Easier

Having Ken back on the show after three months is actually pretty good timing considering that most kids are home for summer and home alone for extended hours without parental supervision. It's hard for families with both parents working. And it's because of children being home alone more during the summer that parents need all the help they can to deal with the 21st century technologies. Your children should not be surfing the net unsupervised.

I look at my kids today and it's a great and new generation they're growing up in; unlike my childhood memories, oops, don't get me wrong my generation was great too, just not full of new technologies. There generation wouldn't know what it's like not having technology in the palm of their hands, while the highlight for me was adjusting the rabbit ears on the television. And there social life is carried in their pockets. My kids stayed home and traveled the world through the Internet, literally meeting people all over the world through the games they played.

My kids were the early ones and the Internet hadn't become plagued with predators, pedophiles and organized criminals. The Internet has become an adult playground and your children are their prize. However, there are conscientious individuals who are trying to level the playing field, such as PC Pandora, helping parents and small businesses in defending their loved ones and their business dreams in the 21st Century.

Kids today are staying indoors playing on computers and socializing online, unlike the days when we were kids and played with friends in our neighborhood during the summer. We were usually with people our parents knew and within calling distance for supper. Well, your kids may be within calling distance in their bedrooms but, half-way around the world, talking with no one you as a parent knows. And during the summer, with more time on their hands, and while parents are working, kids will be kids surfing the Internet's wild wild west. Unfortunately, many children are left unsupervised will stray and be curious of what and whom they may find feeling safe because they are in the safety of their own home and no one knows who they are... they can be anyone. Problem is... it goes both ways.

We covered a lot of information as usual but, the excitement about PC Pandora's 5.0 should be of significance for small business owners with small networks of 30 to 40 computers. This is important for school labs making it easier and practical to maintain the safe use of the lab's computers. Small businesses are now able to address security issues on how their computers are used, what information is accessed, or even time management for employees. The next version 6.0 should have a time out function. In other words, as a parent, when I say no more computer time after 11:00... Guess what? The Computer shuts down at 11:00, no arguments, it just turns off.

There are basically two schools of thought: filtering and monitoring. The CyberHood Watch suggests monitoring. Ken covers both topics about 22 minutes into the show if you want to fast forward and find out more. Don't worry about the sound it was a brief problem with the servers and corrects itself.

Parenting and monitoring can prove to be a very positive experience for both the parent and the child. One parent after monitoring their child's online computer activity realized that the child was being a responsible cybercitizen, which validated good computer habits allowing the parent to scale back on monitoring.

Be sure your monitoring software has screen capture capabilities, which is taking actual images of what is on the desktop, with thumb nail views. Also, be sure to have a program that allows a parent to have a detailed log of what has transpired in text communications.

Again, the topic of CyberBullying was brought up and how devastating it has become and how monitoring your children can be for their own safety. Do you know if your child is being bullied? Or, is your child doing the bullying?

Be proactive with your kids. Know what they are doing online. Do something with them, set up a Facebook account and see there site. Know the password to their site. Remember, you may think your children are more tech savvy than you are, and that may be true, but they still have the maturity of a child. It's tech savvy equipment in the hands of children and parental supervision is still a key factor to your kids wellbeing online.

Your child can't go to the corner store and buy inappropriate magazines, but they can go home and get on the Internet and see anything they want; far more explicit than any magazine.

With PC Pandora you can investigate what your child has or has not done online... it takes the guess work of what your child is doing online.

PC Pandora has graciously agreed to giving all of our radio listeners the opportunity to download and use their product, with a very special $10.00 OSA discount... please click this picture below!

• Tags:
• PC Monitoring
• PC Filter
• CyberBullying
• PC Pandora
• Ken Shallcross

• Permalink