When should children be allowed online?

[SteveLL0004]

I was just visiting one of my friends, and his 3 year-old son asked to seem my iPhone 4. I know neither my friend nor his wife have smart phones so it must have seemed like a treat to the kid. He's really well behaved so I figured no harm in letting him check it out and handed my phone over. Within a minute, to my amazement, he was playing games on my phone!

It's so crazy how quickly kids these days pick up technology. My 10 y/o son didn't really use a computer (and go online) until this past year, and my 5 y/o daughter only uses the computer to draw using my tablet.

I think we can all agree that in this day and age, the internet is a powerful tool at our kids' disposal to learn and grow, but at the same time is filled with a lot of garbage. I was just wondering, what do other parents out there think is an appropriate age for kids to start using the internet (both supervised and unsupervised)?

[ewoods]

In my opinion, it depends on the parent's level of skill with a computer. I work in the tech industry, and I've got a degree in Information Technology and a certification in network security. My son can use the internet as soon as he's able and shows an interest because I have a high degree of confidence in my ability to protect him from the "garbage." Parents who are less tech-savvy, and thus less able to protect their children from stumbling upon something they shouldn't be seeing, should probably take a more active role in supervising internet access, but shouldn't necessarily prohibit access any more than they prohibit TV or video games.

So I really think it all has to do with when your children want, and are able, to get online. The level of supervision matters more than age, in my opinion. After all, without being able to spell, it's not like they can do much on the internet on their own.

Of note, my two-and-a-half-year-old has been able to use my iPhone by himself for over a year now. He knows how to unlock it, which "games" are his, and how to turn it off. His games are simple things like animal sounds and sing-along apps. He only gets to use it in the car, but it's a great distraction for when he gets cranky during long drives.

[lou]

I agree with ewoods (big surprise there!) that the decision is dependent on the parents capacity to protect their children online. My husband and I are anything but technologically inclined. So in our house the computer is down stairs across from the living room where we can easily monitor them and is used for school work only. If my SS's (9 and 11 years old ) are required to run an internet search for something, either my husband or I are in the room monitoring and helping them with said search. If they want to play games they have plenty of board games, video games, and outdoor games to play. I often here from them "but mom let's us play....". What their mother allows them to do is her prerogative . I have no control over that.

The internet is a powerful tool and we often use it to answer questions my husband and I can't. However, I'm very reluctant to allow them free reign on the computer. Their mother has allowed them to set up facebook accounts for them and allows them to play the games on there. That is not something I would have done for them. When my son is older he will have the same restrictions.

[mum2mum]

I too, agree with ewoods, that it all depends on parents' computer knowledge.

I started Jasmine on educational software where she can learn colors, shapes and numbers, nursery songs and such at a tender age of 18months. She uses MS Word at 2+. She sees me creating Reward Chart fro her too.Today, she plays online games from my selected websites which are all educational related. And since she's always curious about learning the world, I would sometimes google with her on the topics she wishes to learn.

We have computer rules for her to follow. If she's on her own playing games, we allow no longer than 30minutes and thankfully, she's discipline enough to switch it off when it is times up. It's parenting from the beginning.

Her little brother Elden will be following her footsteps.

[sarahlink38]

Hi There! =) Just want to ask. May know what sort of parental control do you use to keep your child from online danger? Can you recommend a good software or site where I can monitor my kid's online activities? I have two teens and I am starting to worry about their so much involvement with social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter and the likes. I am not very good when it comes to this technology. =(


In my opinion, it depends on the parent's level of skill with a computer. I work in the tech industry, and I've got a degree in Information Technology and a certification in network security. My son can use the internet as soon as he's able and shows an interest because I have a high degree of confidence in my ability to protect him from the "garbage." Parents who are less tech-savvy, and thus less able to protect their children from stumbling upon something they shouldn't be seeing, should probably take a more active role in supervising internet access, but shouldn't necessarily prohibit access any more than they prohibit TV or video games.

So I really think it all has to do with when your children want, and are able, to get online. The level of supervision matters more than age, in my opinion. After all, without being able to spell, it's not like they can do much on the internet on their own.

Of note, my two-and-a-half-year-old has been able to use my iPhone by himself for over a year now. He knows how to unlock it, which "games" are his, and how to turn it off. His games are simple things like animal sounds and sing-along apps. He only gets to use it in the car, but it's a great distraction for when he gets cranky during long drives.

[Elliemommy]

I somewhat agree with you, Steve.

I don't think that a 3-years-old kid has any 'business' or 'socialty' with computers or even smart phone, or any game computer!

It's not just because I'm afraid of harmful programs or others like these, but I really care for them.

Kids learn from their experiences to develop their skills and memories. And I don't want my kids to be good at computer but lack of necessary skills from outside-world experiences - such as feeding a cow, having a dog or playing with a new friends outside.

[sarahlink38]

My kids are 13 and 16. And eventhough I am sure that I did my best to teach them the goods and the bads of computer and internet usage and they assure me that the will not do anything foolish, I cannot help but still worry. Should I trust them fully? Do you agree on the usage of parental control softwares? I met alot of mom here and from where live where most of them experienced that their kids being bullied online. I am nervous it might happen to my kids.