Beyond the 'normal' protection

I swear – the next blog I create and run will be a LOT happier topic than this one!

Here’s a sobering website from the family of Kristin Helms that sounds like they did all the normal right things related to internet safety to protect their daughter, and the story did not have a happy ending.

I found this site after reading the comments on the fairly positive sounding headline from computer world Child Internet Safety Task Force then I read the comments below the article.

My position on this tough issue is we need more from both sides. Parents absolutely are the first, second and third lines of defense, but Corporate America needs to be held accountable. Unfortunately there is a large gap of misunderstanding between lawyers and the law – and technologists and software. So it may be a very long time before a solution similar to checking a drivers license before letting a kid in a bar exists.

The words of Ronald Reagan are coming back to me now – “Trust, but verify”.

Train, educate, take all the right steps. Then take the steps you need to avoid the Helms family tragedy. You can log the key strokes of your computer – you can harden your computer such that the kids can’t work around your limitations – you can establish timers and use content filters … it’s just a matter of knowing you should be looking for them!