This Christmas, my kids got tablets, and my husband and I got a plan in place for how to guard my family’s best interests in the area of technology.

Did you know…?

• The average age at which a child first sees porn online is 11.
• 90% of children ages 8-16 have viewed pornography on the Internet. In most cases, the sites were accessed unintentionally when a child, often in the process of doing homework, used a seemingly innocent word to search for information or pictures.
• 42% of parents do not review the content of what their teenagers read or type in chat rooms or via instant messaging.
• 50% of teens ages 13-18 often communicate through the Internet with someone they have not met in person.
• 20% of teenagers have sent nude or semi-nude images of themselves or posted them online.

These numbers are pretty scary, but you can take some simple steps to protect your family from exposure to unwanted content in your home.

Start Here!

First, your computer needs to be in a public spot in your home. Set rules that all laptops and mobile devices like tablets and phones need to stay in shared living spaces (no bedrooms or rooms where you hang out alone). The simple fact is that community helps with accountability, while isolation more easily leads to trouble.

Second, practice open accountability with your kids and spouse. You should know all passwords for every online account—email, social media, instant messaging—that your teenagers have. You should also share with your spouse each of your own passwords for every online account you use.

Are you concerned about your child’s privacy overall? Educate yourself about privacy concerns on popular social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Have a conversation with your child about why they use each of these and warn them of potential privacy risks. Spend five minutes reviewing the actual privacy settings for each app.

Monitoring Made Easy!

Okay, down to the more technical piece. What if you could have an Internet service that helped to monitor what online content is being viewed on your family’s tech devices? After much research, you really need to check out  Accountable2You, a reasonably priced software designed for people who want to be held accountable online. Accountable2You’s tools monitor, record and report everything a user views on the computer including websites, images, videos, movies, social networks and chat applications. Accountable2You is the only service to offer installations on unlimited computers, unlimited users and unlimited accountability partners in one service.

Accountable2You also lets every computer have different accountability partners. So a father and son or husband and wife, could hold each other accountable under one account. Accountable2You offers real-time reporting with logs available within seconds of activity. They also offer instant text alerts when objectionable content is accessed.

Just Do It!

There are others determined to get unwanted content into our homes. As parents, we must show determination to keep it out. Educating yourself about privacy issues and setting up monitoring systems are two very basic steps toward protecting what your family sees within the walls of your own home. Commit to set aside time to love your family in this way. Whether you’re a Real Geek Dad or not, you’ll be glad you did.