internet worried

[londonjennie]

I am starting to get worried about my daughter on the internet. She seems to be on it at any chance she gets and being a typical 13 year old, won't share with me what she is looking at. I'm not sure what to do, i want to trust her, its just that i have heard so many bad things about the net that i don't trust it. Any suggestions?

Put the computer in a family room and insist that you knwo waht she's going on - tahts my gut reaction

Howeer my oldest is 8 so someone more teenager savvy will answer shortly!

can't you put parental controls on it so she can't have access to sites that you wouldn't be happy with her looking at.

Yes agree also have computer in a room where people are in / walking through so that the screen is visible.

She is 13, whilst it is natural for her to want not to tell you what she is doing online she is still young enough to remove it from her if she isn't as transparant as possible. Take the power lead off the pc and renegotiate.

Not to sound partonising of anything, but one thing I would say is make sure your daughter is well aware of internet safety.

My two boys (12 and 13) go online on their laptops, and I don't stand over them watching them. Now and again I will have a glance at what they are doing though. We always talk about the internet and how to go online safely, ie: no personal information, let me know if they come across something they aren't happy with, etc.... and they also are well aware of the fact that anyone can pretend to be anyone else on the internet.

Our philosophy is one of trust and openess. If we trust them online and they are completely open with what they do, then things seem to tick along quite nicely.

I don't want this post to sound like I'm blase about all this, as I know only too well about the dangers out there. I have just ensured my boys are aware too.

Hope this helps a bit, but of course I realise that each situation is different.

www.thinkuknow.co.uk take a look at this...its great for kids to look at, but also has a list of abbreviations and a parent section!

there are lots of nice teen safety type sites online...maybe ask her to have a look around them as food for thought.