Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Mike Smith:
No doubt you've heard the horror stories about problems with the Internet, and no doubt they've made you cautious. But the Internet's problems should not keep you from utilizing this incredible resource. You would never give your 12-year-old a loaded gun and allow unsupervised target practice. The same is true of the Internet.

As a homeschooler, you know the importance of being involved in your children's lives. You've also taught them the difference between right and wrong. Children who are sensitive to sin are often more leery of unsuitable websites than adults.

Yet, as you may know, it is easy to stumble onto an inappropriate website by accident. Here are some tips to avoid this problem.

Never let your young children surf the Internet without parental supervision. Like so many other aspects of child training, having the parents involved solves many of the potential problems.

Instruct your children not to give out any personal information over the Internet without your permission.

It's also a good idea to download a simple filtering program that will screen out pornography and other detestable materials. Many Internet service providers, like AOL, offer parental controls on the software to prevent children from accessing objectionable content. One of these might be right for your family as well.

And until next time, I'm Mike Smith.