Saturday, June 5, 2010

How Much Online Time Is Too Much?

My mom and I were talking the other day about Ryan and his laptop.  School has been out for a week now, and he has been spending a lot of time online.  Usually, he goes into his room with his laptop, and shuts the doors.  I know that most of the time he is on facebook, but I have no idea what else he is looking at.  Sure, I check his history, but we all know that can be manipulated.  I have also walked into his room and he has never tried to hide what is on his screen.

But sometimes I just want to be sure that he is not doing anything, well, that a 14 year old boy would do.  I have thought about using a program to track computer activity, but do I really want to invade his privacy?  I know, he's 14.  How much privacy should he have?  I think quite a big, actually.  I always knock before entering his room, because that is what I expect from him, too.  If I ask what he has been doing, he has always told me the truth in the past.

Maybe I will wait until he gives me a reason not to trust him.  What would you do?

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4 comments:

Dawn said...

Don't you have to be older than 14 to have a FB account? I don't know. I know my nephew who is 12 has one and I am shocked what he writes on his wall.

I was watching something the other day and you can change some setting on the computer, I don't remember, to what he can and can't do and the hours he can be on the computer. This was a very new computer. I am not sure what kind of computer you have. Something to check out.

Lynne said...

I have the same dilemma with my 14 year old daughter. Not sure if there is a right answer.

jenn said...

Dawn ~ I think your are right, but I fudged the kids ages. There are so many games they like to play and I really don't see anything wrong with them having their own accounts. I go in as them every few days to check what they have been up to.

jenn said...

Lynne ~ I want to give him some independence, but I also want to know exactly what he's doing. It's a tough call, but i think I will leave it be until he gives me a reason to check up on him.