Take Charge of your Child's Screen Time with iParent.TV

As a mother I am very cautious about what Noah is exposed to. I am always worried that he is going to see or hear something that will scare him.  He likes to watch shows that aren’t on Disney Jr. or Nick Jr. sometimes and I often wonder if what he is watching is good for him. He likes to watch the Science Channel.  We are a Christian family, so I try and make sure he doesn’t believe that we evolved from monkeys or that the Big Bang really happened. It is easy just to have him watch those shows with me or to kind of tell what it is about by reading the description.  Noah also likes to have time on my tablet.  He loves downloading new apps to play.  I have noticed before that some of the apps he downloads don’t have nudity or violence, but some of them have questionable ads on them. My son doesn’t need to be exposed to dating sites. He has downloaded apps that have some violence. Those apps were removed. He doesn’t understand the dangers of those games. I don’t have parental controls on it. It is connected to the internet and even my Facebook account.  I need to know which apps are ok and which ones are not.  Thankfully there is iParent.TV.  It will help give parents a piece of mind when it comes to apps, smart tv or social networks.

I have had the internet since I was 12. I am 32 now. I was exposed to some pretty unsettling things in my 20 years online.  When I was first online, there were only message boards. Chat rooms didn’t even exist yet. I remember being ten years old and a guy asking me what my bra size was. I was a naïve kid and I had no clue about bra sizes. Even then there were dangers. Chat rooms don’t really exist anymore, now there is Facebook. Those creeps out there are still targeting children. They aren’t doing it in public anymore. They are sending messages to children and trying to groom them. I was a 13 year old girl and I knew what it felt like to just want to fit in. Noah will not have any social media until he is 16. I know that sounds crazy but it’s not a risk I want to take. Even then I will have the password. Unless Noah gives me a reason not to trust him, I will. I just don’t trust the creatures in the computer. 

Here is more information from iParent.TV:

What is iParent.TV? If kids are awake, they are probably on a smartphone, in front of a smart TV, downloading apps, or posting to social networks. And most likely parents have no idea what they are doing. Founded by author, pastor and father Craig Gross, iParent.TV is a yearly, subscription-based website for teaching and informing parents on all things tech, mobile, devices, websites and apps for kids. The site is currently in development and expected to launch in July 2014.

The Problem is most parents don’t have an inside track to tech or social media dangers, let alone how to safeguard their kids against them.

58 percent of 10- to 12-year-old kids believe they know how to hide their online activities from their parents.

46 percent of kids said they would change their online behavior if they knew their parents were paying attention.

iParent.TV is designed to keep parents ahead of the tech curve. It will help parents understand, get involved and safeguard their children in the ever-evolving tech world. iParent.TV educates parents with all the latest trends via websites, social media, apps and devices.

 It started with a group of dads who felt like their 9 year olds knew more about tech than they did. They were right. But their idea will help change that forever for all parents. Once launched, iParent.TV will have hundreds of videos and product reviews that are current, cutting edge and trending, keeping parents who subscribe ahead of the tech curve.

How it will work? iParent.TV will be a subscription-based site costing $49 per year for parents to access videos, reviews, how-tos, and live chat support. It will be the largest website on the Internet helping parents understand what’s safe and what’s not in the world of tech. The founders of iParent.TV are currently raising funds through Indiegogo, offering interested individuals the opportunity to become early adopters with special subscription rates through mid-March. The website is scheduled to officially launch in July 2014.

I consider myself to be very tech savvy but I can always learn something new or be reminded of something I may have forgot. So even if you think you know everything, consider iParent.TV as an investment to your child’s safety.

You can save on your iParent.TV subscription by becoming an early bird subscriber. The early bird price is $29. 

Order your subscription early  iParent on Indiegogo 

For more information visit the iParent.TV website 

Like iParent.TV on Facebook

Follow iParent.TV on Twitter

Check out iParent.TV's YouTube channel for great videos and information.

How To Monitor Your Kids Online – Gecko Monitor

We all know of the dangers lurking around the digital corners of the internet, especially when it comes to letting kids loose online. Of course, sometimes we can do everything we can do avoid these unwanted websites, but occasionally there's no avoiding them. There's also another side to the issue – Kids curiosity. Whether children mean to click something or not, curiosity sometimes gets the better of us all, which means sometimes those dangers are unavoidable.

But luckily, help is at hand. When I talk to people about how to introduce kids to the world of the internet I talk about a 3 step process; Control, Monitor and Trust. The first step – Control, is the first introductory stage to the web. It means controlling what your kids can access and filtering what they see. Applications like Net Nanny can put a lock on internet browsing, meaning any webpages that contain profanity, adult material or a number of other questionable topics are blocked, and on some 'allowed' websites swear words and marked out.

Of course, there's no right age at which you should allow your children free reign over the net, and every parents opinions will be different. But at some point it is going to happen, and this (along with a few other situations) is where is recommend stage two – Monitor. Monitoring your kids online is a great way of letting them have their digital freedom, while at the same time maintaining some control and peace of mind. You can check over what they've been looking at at any time, even without them knowing if you wish.

Gecko Monitor makes this process easy and manageable. The software, once installed, will run silently in stealth mode (or visible if you wish) monitoring everything that occurs on the computer. When you wish to review the activity logs, you can open the software with a secret key combination and password.

When you view the logs you'll be able to see everything that has happened while you've been away from the computer. Gecko Monitor, will monitor and report on all of the following:

• All applications used.
• All websites visited.
• All documents opened, created, saved and deleted.
• Anything copied and pasted.
• Any documents printed.
• All keystrokes entered.

The software will also log the times and dates of all activities. You can either review the logs on your home computer or have them sent to your email address to view from a remote location. Gecko Monitor has a free trial available on the website.

The third and final stage is of course – Trust. At this point (as hard as it may be!) trust must prevail over monitoring and control. Hopefully with the help of the above software getting to that stage might be a little bit easier!

Cyber Safety Tips

Everything we do these days is on computers; we get a great deal of our information from the internet. Growing up we were one of the few families that had the internet I knew of. I remember being in the basement when I was in 5th grade sitting on the internet message boards, back before chat rooms, talking to strangers about different things. Not everything I came across was appropriate for my age but I was naïve and I didn’t even know what they were talking about. It wasn’t really crude but it was like what is your bra size. I was definitely not sure how to answer it. The internet was newer back then, there wasn’t as many things going on as there is now.

I think that it is important to teach your children about cybersafety. I think it is as important as teaching them not to talk to strangers in real life. I think that the internet is a very valuable tool if it is used properly. I thought I would share with you some tips I have learned throughout the years of being on the internet and keeping our kids safe. As you all know I am big on safety and protecting kids from the dangers in the world.

Tip #1 Place your computer in a common area so you can know what is going on at all times with your child. That is really important to know who your child is talking to.

Tip #2 Teach your children to not talk to strangers online no matter how nice they sound. Kids are extremely trusting and it is important that you limit their buddy lists, friends lists etc, and NEVER meet someone they talk to on the internet.

Tip #3 Use Parental Controls and monitor what your kids do online. Some people would think that is invading their child’s privacy but I feel that the internet is a privilege that needs to be earned.

Tip #4 Be open with your child about the internet. If they seem to become upset or withdrawn after spending time on the computer, make it a point to find out what happen. They could be the victim of cyber bullying or have some other problem going on.

I think with these 4 tips you can make the internet a safer place for your children. There are many wonderful websites out there where you can learn anything at your fingertips. Just think of all the libraries you would have to visit to have the access to all the knowledge of the internet. I hope you all share these tips with your family and if you have any to add please comment.