MediaTechNews.com

How much information is available on-line about you and your family? Everybody knows that there are people out there working hard to discover as much about you as possible, trying to find ways to steal money, or con you, or (worst of all) become you.

But even more than these things, I worry about the amount of exposure my kid′s have on-line. The financial danger to adults, as extreme as that is, pales in comparison to the potential for evil there is out there with respect to children.

We attended a seminar hosted by the FBI at my daughter’s school last year, and I went into it thinking I had the bases covered:

• We closely supervise and limit computer use
• The family computer is in the family room, and we’re around when they use it
• I log instant messaging records, and we discuss them with them
• I monitor all emails in and out of the kid’s accounts
• I maintain admin rights to the computers, and no programs get installed without my knowledge
• We discuss the dangers (age appropriate), and make sure they understand the potential for problems

I have to admit I walked out of there floored, because some of the greatest risk may not come from what my kids do online. It comes from what their friends do online.

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