How to Protect Your Children on the Internet: A Road Map for Parents and Teachers (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“[S]hares the risks of the Internet by detailing recent, real-world tragedies and revealing some of the secrets of online activities. The book offers a comprehensive overview of the ways in which youth use such technologies and exposes the risks they represent.”–Library Media Connection

“[A] thorough if occasionally geeked-out look at the technologies children are using and the steps parents must take to minimize their kids' chances of having a bad experience online. Smith, the chief information officer for the World Wildlife Fund, shows the 5 million ways your kids can get around the basic barriers many parents set up. He advocates a more deliberate, comprehensive approach, including aggressively limiting your child's Internet use: For middle schoolers, he recommends banning instant messaging, blocking search engines such as Google and denying access to free e-mail services such as Yahoo Mail. The amount of technical detail will liberate some and overwhelm others (hey, welcome to the Internet, folks), but you can always skip to Smith's helpfully specific recommendations, including which filtering and monitoring programs work best.”–The Washington Post

“Smith outlines methods for protecting children against online threats. He describes recent tragedies and shows how to protect against specific dangers, for parents or educators of children from age eight to 17. He specifically discusses how to monitor children online, with recommendations for surfing, blogs, and social networking; email; instant messaging and voice-over-IP, cell phones, and PDAs; and talking to children about risks. Information has been drawn from research reports, case studies, child advocacy organizations and web sites, interviews with experts and parents, and the author's own experiences as a parent, technology professional, and educator.”–Reference & Research Book News

“Gregory Smith offers parents an extremely powerful resource that is long overdue. This very "parent-friendly" book should be required reading before allowing your child or teen to go online!”–Donald S Schnure President & CEO, Parental Control Products LLC

“Today's parents need to make protecting their children online a priority and they need to know about the available tools and how to implement them. From technology to tips, Greg Smith's book provides a comprehensive tool that guides parents on how to create a safe online environment.”–John Cheney EVP of Product Strategy & Marketing SurfControl

“The Internet can be fantastic place, AND a dangerous place. Gregory Smith lays out how to better understand that place in terms of our children's safety. As parents, we need to understand what our children are doing online, and this book is a great help to those of us who are novices at technology. The book should be required reading for all parents of teens and preteens--most of whom know far less than their own children about the Internet.”–Julie Aigner-Clark, Founder, The Safe Side

“Worried about protecting your children on the Internet? This is a "must read" for every parent and educator. An informative and well-researched guide, this is an invaluable tool in understanding the Internet and its galloping revolution. Gregory Smith's "how to book" is key to ensuring our children's safety on the internet. I hope administrators consider making this required reading.”–Maureen Appel, Headmistress, Connelly School of the Holy Child

Book Description

Offers a guide for protecting children and teens from the myriad dangers of the Internet.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Praeger (August 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275994724
• ISBN-13: 978-0275994723
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #897,573 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, Comprehensive and Comprehensible resource, October 26, 2007

By	Lokesh Kumar - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Greg Smith has done a very good job of providing a comprehensive and comprehensible resource. While Greg's approach to parenting might sound autocratic to some parents, but the fact is that it is ultimately a parent's responsibility to protect his kid (not that school and society at large are not responsible to protect our kids). While it educates technically non-savvy parents with the innards of the technology, it also provides a clear strategy to adopt the technical tools, corresponding to each age group. It is not a high level book, rather a hands-on approach book. He mentions many tools for monitoring, filtering and blocking purposes and one such tool is familyarmor.com.

Excellent Job!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wealth of practical information, October 8, 2007

By	Sarah Poulton (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Internet and Web have so much to offer for both adults and children. I use it everyday and my children are also online daily. I check the news, email, and do research. I even met my spouse online. Also, my kids play games, chat with friends and explore. It's a great learning tool and allows them some freedoms to explore their interests. However, as the Web and Internet continue to impact our lives, there are very real dangers that I want to know about so that I can be sure my kids are safe when they are online.

What Greg Smith has been able to provide in his book are the specifics of how you can take the necessary steps to make sure that the Internet and Web is a safe place for your kids. Many books and guides speak in terms of general rules and ideas, but what Mr. Smith provides is real details and tools that you can put into action. He identifies the risks and issues being exploited and provides the leading tools, his experiences, and recommendations to protect you and your children. Even experienced technology professionals will find the comprehensive list of tools and technologies in his book a huge help. I have been using the Internet and Web for a long time and there are several things in his book that I did not know about, and that I want to keep my kids from knowing about.

Excellent book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Protect your children, October 2, 2007

By	Anne Topp - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Greg Smith has written an important book for parents. Using his experience as a senior IT leader and a parent, he lets parents know the risks of children being connected and how to protect them.

The author makes the reader aware of the many dangers of connected electronic devices, not only computers but also cell phones. At a very young age, children are using computers and the age when children have their own cell phones seems to creep down every year. Many parents are not as technically sophisticated as their children, especially parents of teenagers. He urges parents to take control by learning about technology, using the tools available to safeguard and monitor children's activities on-line, and talking with your kids. His easy to understand recommendations let parents know what they need to do, going as far as recommending specific products and providing "How-to" instructions, customized for the age of your child.

As Mr. Smith states in his book, "You're just two clicks away from just about anything." Make sure your children are safe.