I noticed last Sunday how much time my kids spend on the internet. To my surprise, I watched them wake up and turn to their laptaps until before noon. They eat their lunch then there they are again!

In the internet with all kinds of information, harmful and entertaining as they are, seems to catch my kids attention. I saw youtube videos being watched from pop music to crazy personal videos from some deranged person or otherwise worse kind! I asked my boy why he watches those videos and who introduce it for him to click on, and he said he just was attracted at the number of views done on it.

It made me think that popularity is not good always. And I know from his answer that he was merely trying to surf and was attracted to it, without any kind of discerning sign on the quality of the experience. It made me think further, how can I secure his internet experience or perhaps direct him at least on his searches?

So I best thought maybe I need to have some good idea on how they are doing in their internet experience. I am not into restrictive ways when it comes to educating my kids, so I am planning to do the following:

1) Ask them on his favorite sites and try to get his reasons in liking them. This maybe will provide me a glimpse of what is going on in his head.

2) Instruct them on how to discern good stuff and bad ones. In my case, if I get nervous on what I see and experience, then I know that is not for me. I believe these kids are not as different as we are, so I would have to instill this basic sign of when to avoid a site or not.

3) Never allow them to give any information of where they are, neither through the social sites or even on the phone. Best security will always be Anonymity.

And lastly to totally eradicate my fear that they get harm is 4) to make sure that they clearly know what is right and wrong in real life.

That no matter how anonymous you are or the netizen you are interacting with, the morality in cyberspace should be the same in real life. Do unto others what you want others to do unto you (of course without exposing yourself too much, than what they have revealed to you). Right? Fair is only fair when you are comfortable about it. :-)