Teens Talk Back: POS! (Parent over Shoulder)
All the media headlines about the dangers of the Internet have made parents and guardians more interested in using parental controls. These tools allow parents to monitor their teenagers' use of the Internet—but this is not the most effective method to keep teens safer. The truth is that in some cases blocking and monitoring your teen only tempts him or her to explore and find out what you think is so bad on the Internet, just like we test the limits in other aspects of our lives. I have known kids that try to guess the parental control codes and are often successful.
Most of the time teens are not looking for danger on the Internet, and we feel that by parents and guardians checking up on us, you are invading our privacy. We just want a little freedom! Teens feel that the Internet is an escape, a place for us to express ourselves without judgment. When parents and guardians block the use of these sites, we feel they are trying to prevent us from being ourselves. However, teens know that the Internet can be a dangerous place. I believe this teen generation needs to be better informed on its potential risks, especially the problems that can happen when you expose inappropriate and too much information on the Internet.
Parents/guardians and teens need to communicate with each other about the Internet; keeping us safer online starts with talking to us. It is a good idea for you to know what we are looking at and who we are chatting with, but make some compromises too. If we are willing to explain to and show you exactly what we are doing while on the Internet, you must trust us to use our common sense. I think that it is important for parents and guardians to put some faith in their teenagers. When you show us that you trust us, we don't want to break that trust. This means that we'll think more when we're online, because we don't want to give you a reason to monitor us more closely! And, that's the most effective method to help keep us safer.
Kelly - NetSmartz Teen Intern
