Are chatrooms, social networking sites, and instant messages a danger to children?

According to the January 2009 report of a task force for U.S. state attorneys general, the dangers of online predators, while real, have been exaggerated. Most online fictional identities are not used with malicious purpose. The report found that “those who are most at risk often engage in risky behaviors and have difficulties in other parts of their lives. The psychosocial makeup of and family dynamics surrounding particular minors are better predictors of risk than the use of specific media or technologies.”

Keeping children safe is more about monitoring their behavior—making sure they’re as appropriately wary of Internet strangers as they would be of any other stranger—than about restricting their online activities.

How can I tell what my child is doing on the Internet?

Parental controls software lets you restrict the kind of websites your child can visit, log any attempts to visit forbidden sites, monitor and limit time spent on the Internet, and even log all Internet activity.

Does Symantec have a product to help keep kids safe on the Internet?

Yes. The free add-on pack for Norton Internet Security and Norton 360 includes parental controls that let you create an individual profile for each child. You can block inappropriate websites based on the profile settings, and log attempts to access blocked websites. Password-protected, predefined control profiles for adult, teen, and child users can be used as is or customized with ease.