re: This police file shows why you should keep up with what your kids do online.

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you should keep up with what your kids do online.

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Absolutely. You should also "keep up" with what they do offline.

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I can't believe some of the comments made on another thread about a parent wanting to keep tabs on what his 14 year old daughter does with a computer.

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The other thread was more about eliminating unsupervised access to the computer than "keeping tabs" on what she does with it.

The rest of your post is a string of insults with a worst case example tied in to create fear. Not sure how much support you planned on gaining with that approach.

As a parent you should, first and foremost, know your child. Be interested in everything they do. Second, have the tough conversations about the dangers they could run in to when they are online or off. Third, establish clear behavioral boundaries with consequences for crossing those boundaries. Then comes the hard part, stand back and give them the space to either behave like the child you raised or screw up and lose your trust.

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You clowns wouldn't let a 13 or 14 year old shoot a gun or drive a car

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Ummm, yes we would.

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just give her uncontrolled and unmonitored access to a computer and trust her to do the right thing.

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Every parent will eventually reach the day where their kid will have "uncontrolled and unmonitored access" to everything in the world. How your kid reacts to that level of freedom is based, in no small part, on how used to making the right decisions you've managed to make your kid.