As a parent, you must be aware of many benefits to your child from the Internet. Access to the Internet can improve your child's reading skills by providing interesting materials to read, send e- mails to their friends, learn about other cultures, access libraries and reference materials for school or homework.

But did you know that there over 1,000,000 websites in cyberspace that pornography have pornographic content in one form or another? And more than 73% of children admit seeing adult material on the internet.

If your child has full access to the Internet, you have some reasons for concern. With unrestricted access, any child with a computer and a modem can access pornographic material in seconds, and once it's been seen, the pornography can never be entirely erased from the mind. We want to protect the innocence and pristine nature of childhood for as long as possible. Yet children need to know certain rules about the computer and their access to the Internet exist. They may be less likely to violate the rules if they are told the truth about why they are not allowed to see everything on the Internet.

New & dangerous trend on the internet these days. Luring children into pornographic sites by re-directing URLS & other deceptive means .

Children may click on sites these sites assuming them to be eg. homework sites and children would be easily convinced that these sites are meant for them.
Just as disturbing as pornography itself is the difficulty in protecting children from internet and chat room predators who have a sexual appetite geared towards unsuspecting children (and women) and can capture their attention via chat conversations.

And with "cyberstalkers" , "paedophiles" , and "cyber criminals" on the prowl in chat rooms, children and parents need to be even more cautious in cyberspace.Despite using every protection available, unless your children are aware of what to expect and how to behave when they encounter something unsavoury, your children are at risk. Making them prepared means teaching them the correct behaviour. This is much more important than just software or hardware access control. We can begin to educate our children & ourselves about dangers in cyberspace. But protecting our children on the Internet is a shared responsibility!

Cyber laws and internet filters can only have limited effectiveness. Parents need supervise children online to make sure that they are protected from harmful content and to insure that children know how to avoid sexual predators in the dark underworld of cyberspace.

You are not helpless, and you are not the only one!

With all the benefits and drawbacks of the Internet, you the parent should not feel you are without options. Child protection technology is plentiful. You can implement responsible safeguards, ensuring that your children will have safe, educational, and entertaining online experiences. Educate yourself about cyberspace. Raise your awareness of the benefits as well as the risks of going online.

Remember there is no substitute for good parenting, and no software can replace trust and communication. Some offensive material could inevitably slip through filters. Technology shouldn't be a babysitter and considered the solution. It's a tool available to help knowledgeable parents enforce their choices, nothing more. It's not a magic wand.

But there's lots more to cyberspace than risks to our children, hard core sexual content and other bad stuff. We've found some good web sites you can enjoy as a family which are listed at Indianchild.com. So, make sure you keep visiting for parenting articles, plus Internet safety news etc.

Consider putting your home computer in a communal area which is frequented by other members of the family, for example in the living room or near a hallway or other high traffic area. This will let children know that accessing inappropriate sites or doing things contrary to your rules will likely be discovered by parents.

What to do - Getting Help

If you find yourself in a situation where you suspect cyber- abuse of your child or if you come across a "Cyber Cafe" which allows access to cyber pornography to children or otherwise relating to children, immediately seek the guidance of law enforcement.