The Internet can be a dangerous place for you, your computer and your children. An unsuspecting individual could lose their identity to a Phishing scam or a Spyware program embedded in the computer. A computer could be reduced to a paperweight by a malicious virus. Perhaps the scariest Internet safety concern is what could happen to an unprotected child doing battle with an Internet predator alone in cyberspace. The kids do not have a chance against some of the grooming processes these predators use.

Kids Internet safety should be a major concern for any parent whose child has access to a computer. A person can fix their identity, a computer can also be fixed, but the damage that could be done to a child from an Internet predator could very well be irreversible. The Internet can be a safe place with a little understanding about some of the dangers. Just as you would watch your kids in a playground or park, they also need monitoring when they are playing on the Internet.

Think of the Internet as a little place around the corner.

There is a shady looking character standing on a street corner handing out pornography to anyone that passes him by. Not just handing the stuff out either, he is literally shoving it in their faces. It does not matter who passes by either, kids, male, female, adults, employees, anyone who views a computer screen can be subject to indecent material.

On another corner, there is a predator in the bushes trying to get some children to climb behind the bushes and join him for a little unsupervised chat, if you know what I mean.

There is help if you want to keep your teenagers safe on the Internet.  A computer monitoring solution lets you know if they are being cyber-bullied or groomed by an Internet predator as it happens.  Here are some of the best computer monitoring programs available.

• WebWatcher
• Mobile-Spy
• Spector Pro
• PC Pandora
• Safe Eyes

It is your responsibility as a parent to know what your kids are doing online.  Of course, you can’t stand over their shoulder and see everything your teenager is doing on the Internet.  WebWatcher allows you to see what they are doing at all times and you can see what they are doing from anywhere that you have an Internet connection.  WebWatcher is a remote computer monitoring service that allows you to protect your kids from the dangers of the Internet even if you cannot be there to supervise their Internet activity all of the time.  While chat rooms are an integral part of today’s society, they can also be a very dangerous place for an unsupervised child.  Let WebWatcher monitor their Online Activities to help keep them safe from the abundant Internet dangers your kids may face.  Download a 7-Day Free Trial of WebWatcher Computer Monitoring Software here.

It is not only the computer that needs monitoring these days.  As a parent, you now need to be concerned with what they do on their mobile phone.  Internet chat room conversations quickly evolve into cell phone conversations.  Cell phones are now the newest teenage craze called sexting that is getting a lot of kids in trouble.  See some of the sexting news stories here.  Internet capable smart phones can be monitored with the use of a program like Mobile-Spy.  Cell phone monitoring can protect you child from not only Internet predators but from themselves also.  Sexting can get them in a lot of trouble.  See our review of Mobile-Spy Here. 

If you want to know what your teenager is doing online, whether you are curious about their MySpace or FaceBook activity or wondering what they are chatting about on any of the other chat venues available, Spector Pro can tell you everything your kids are doing on the Internet.  A day seldom goes by without hearing about kids getting cyber-bullied or groomed by an Internet predator.  Maybe you think your teenager tells you everything but think back, did you tell your parents everything that went on in your younger years.  Times have changed and there are too many dangers facing your child to ignore the potential dangers they face while they are exposing their personalities on the Internet.  Let Spector Pro let you know what your teenagers are doing on the Computer.

PC Pandora 6 is an excellent computer monitoring program that allows you to protect your children from Internet dangers by monitoring their Internet use.  The Pandora monitoring program monitors everything that happens on the computer and emails you what they are doing at any interval you desire.  Now you can see exactly what they are doing on the computer after school.  If you think they are doing homework, you may be in for a surprise!  You will know if they are playing games or browsing the Internet for indecent sites.  You will also know if they are being groomed by an Internet predator so you can take action and save your child from a meeting that they may never forget.  If you are thinking “Not My Kid”, read some of the Internet Predators in the news and then get more information about PC Pandora. Check out our full review of the PC Pandora computer monitoring program

Safe Eyes Parental Controls falls into the content screening, blocking and filtering category.  Safe Eyes categorizes, screens and blocks virtually any type of undesired content, in any Internet application in real time using a state-of-the-art artificial intelligence algorithm.  Children are spending too many of their waking hours online.  If you are a concerned parent that want to keep your kids safe from the “bad” content  that is available online, Safe Eyes PC filtering software is just the product you need to help you keep your kids safe online. 

Across the street from the man in the bushes is a young woman that is going through every passerby's wallet and purse without them even knowing it, Phishing, sometimes taking money and other times just their information to use at another time. What kind of information do they carry in their purse or wallet? Credit cards, Social Security numbers, addresses, P.I.N numbers, etc. What will this young woman do with all of this information? You do not want to find out the hard way.

Then there are the Spammers. They are invisible little creatures that roam around filling up peoples mailboxes with junk mail. Mail that was never subscribed to, mail that nobody wants or needs. They are fast and sneaky too because the mail never stops piling up in the mailboxes. They are devious little creatures, relentless.

In the middle of every street are the watchers. They are just gathering information from peoples habits; what they buy, what they throw away, who they visit. This information will be sold so that the next time they go shopping, there will be someone following them around popping signs in front of their face telling them that there is a sale on every item that they've ever liked or bought in the past ten years.

Hiding everywhere in the neighborhood are the virus ridden rotten creatures hanging around just looking for an unprotected, unsuspecting person to spread their viruses to. They are constantly mutating their diseases to try to catch people off guard. Sometimes it works and the virus spreads like wild fire and people get so sick that it takes them days to recover from the illness. Other times it is just a slight illness that is spread, something like a mild headache, it does not do any damage but it is annoying just the same. These creatures are out there and they could be coming for your computer if you do not keep it protected.

Although this neighborhood may seem a bit unreal, it does exist, and it has called the Internet and the Internet can be a very dangerous place. The good news is that protection is available but you need to protect yourself. It is not easy sometimes but there are many ways to protect yourself and your children from these Internet safety concerns. The Internet is full of Viruses, Spam, unmonitored Chat rooms where Internet predators lurk, and Instant Messaging programs, Pornography, and Identity Theft but it does not have to be a nightmare.

The Internet can also be a lot of fun and a great resource of information so simply not connecting to it is not a viable option in this age of technology. So what can we do to protect ourselves? How do we ensure that our kids are safe on the Internet? Let us take a walk through this little neighborhood and find out, follow along.