It is the fear of every parent -- that someone would do harm to their children. Although parents must continue to guard against their children's interaction with strangers in their everyday life, the explosion of the internet has simply added a new avenue for those who would seek to do harm to our children. However, parents can rest at ease as parental control software makes it easy to monitor and protect your children online.

The Problem Of Online Predators Is Real

The problem of online predators using the computer to target children first came to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1993 with the abduction of an eleven year old from Maryland. The FBI began keeping statistics on such crimes in 1996 and as of 2007 have opened 20,200 cases and arrested almost 10,000 subjects for sexually exploiting children online .

In an interview with PBS' Frontline, Peter Brust , FBI special agent in charge, of the Counterintelligence and Cyber Divisions for the Los Angeles FBI field office made a statement that should get the attention of every parent:

... Whether it's one in five children solicited online, whether it's one in seven, what price do you put on that one child that is victimized? Is it worth 200 FBI agents working nationwide to save that one child from being victimized? ... So it's not a question of resources and hysteria; it's a question of, we just can't afford to have our children continue to be victimized by these predators. ... The crime problem is on the rise and has been for the last 12 years. I don't see any indications that it's going to be diminished in any sense, no matter how much publicity is given the crime problem and the so-called "Internet predator hysteria." ...

The problem of online predators targeting our children will not be going anyway anytime soon; therefore, it is vital that parents takes steps to protect their children from potential harm by using parental control software.

The Solution Is As Simple As Using Parental Control Software

Our goal as parents should be to allow our children to experience the benefits of the internet while protecting them from the dangers. The use of parental control software allows you to achieve both of these goals. Parental control software allows your child to freely use the internet but also allows you as the parent to fully monitor this usage.

Parental control software allows you to monitor who your children are communicating with via email, chat sites, and instant messages. In addition, it allows you to actually view what your children are viewing on the internet through the use of recorded screen shots. Parental control software allows you to log websites your children visit that contain keywords you have selected. Most parental control software is easy to install and set up.

The goal of parental control software is not to violate your children's right to interact with their friends but to learn of any problems early so they can be dealt with quickly before any real harm can come to your child.