How can students make best use of Internet

The age of the Internet is here to stay. Imagine this scenario, you are lost on the freeway and not sure about, which route to take from here. You are trying to be intuitive. But your 15 year old son knows better. So out comes the smart phone with GPS and you are back on track again. So that’s the power of the Internet – It makes you street smart. But then again, when it comes to Internet usage, you can accidentally come across pornographic material on your child’s computer – who according to you is still a baby.

So how do you actually determine or decide what is better for your child, what he/ she should view and what kind of restrictions should be applied on the accessibility of the Internet? You are well aware of all the cons of excessive internet usage ranging from addiction to the web to obesity and even complete distraction from studies. Your purpose is to now handle the situation in a better way. If your child is already too addicted to the internet, you may have to consider counseling alongside this game plan. If not, then you can try out some of these solutions listed below to help your child use the Internet for sensible purposes and a bit of entertainment too.

For School Purposes

Any kind of project in school now requires the students to research for hours on the internet. Heck even their homework is sometimes listed on the email rather than the good old school diary or notebook. The purpose of the internet here is two-fold. It should help your child achieve better academically and provide more accurate information. The good thing here is that they are around the house browsing for stuff all day that suits their science project needs. All that you have to do here is offer a bit of help and ensure that they are no deviating from their main purpose of research. Sure allow them to have some fun, but on the whole be watchful rather than intrusive.

Creating General Awareness

Remember that awkward moment parents used to have unsure about whether or not to discuss sexual issues with their children. Well thanks to the internet, you are able to now leave it to these websites to the do the counseling. Internet helps children become more aware of not only these issues, but also about crimes, risks involved in going overboard with any kind of drug and creating a better personality. On the whole, it has been seen that kids these days are much smarter than their peers a few decades back because they are more aware. So at least give them a fair chance to prove themselves. Be it gadgets, the latest weather report or even anything new happening around the world, your kids are way more aware today.

Social Networking

This has become like a teen fundamental right these days. But when you yourself are hooked to social networking and mommies groups all day, you cannot really blame them. Again, social networking and media is a good thing because they are able to connect with friends, peers and even relatives. Staying connected is good for their persona and helps them overcome the issues like shyness and being introvert. So do not stop them from using the internet for social networking as long as they are mellowing it down.

However, if things were as smooth as mentioned above, then there was really no need of Parental Control. The problem is that most kids don’t know where to stop. And this is where parents step in. Here’s what you can do to ensure that your child is not going overboard using the internet.

Keep check

Always keep a check on what your child is browsing through. They should be aware that as a parent you are keeping a track of things too. What you can do here is restrict any website that you think contains inappropriate material. Also, discuss it with your kid on why you are implementing or imposing this restriction. Not discussing is not really going to help.

Be aware

Your awareness is going to make your kid keep the internet usage in check. You should know exactly how much time a homework assignment would require. If needed you can always offer to help because you are net savvy too. In this reference, also make sure that you are aware of your child’s social networking life. This is the time when most kids fall prey to strangers on the social media who promise over the moon, but are actually just scams.

Restrict Phone Usage

There is no need to pamper your child by giving them unlimited data or free wi-fi access all the time. As a rule of thumb, you should make it clear that beyond a few hours, internet is not permitted. Do not snatch away their phone or think that blocking is going to help. It will only make the issue worse with you and they will stop confiding. Don’t encourage multiple phones but help them understand the use of emergency calling and using safety apps.

And last but not the least, as a parent it is your duty to ensure that your kid gets the best of both worlds. The Internet is actually a wonderful web of knowledge from where your kid can learn so much. Be it about the college they want to go to or changing their subject or even what dress to wear to the prom. Make the use of the internet more fun and interactive by doing things together. You can shop online together, help him/ her with homework or even just have a gala time-sharing pics and messages on the social media too. Internet is a good thing, you just need to know where to draw the boundaries. So go and make the most of it by sensible usage and ensuring that your child is able to enjoy this time-together with you.