What happens in England does not stay in England, but eventually makes some ripples on American shores as well. For instance, a statement given by British PM David Cameron’s adviser on childhood last year is very relevant to the debate on internet parental controls in the developed world, including America. The advisor said that it is the duty of parents to hack into their children’s emails and monitor their mobile phones. So, why is it important for parents to control the online image of their children?

Snooping around

Since experts believe that parental control of children’s online activities is within the rights of parents. The problem is that one can only monitor online activities of their children to a certain age but the process cannot be carried on forever. An appropriate thing to do is to friend your kids on the trending social networking sites. Eventually you will most probably be blocked by your kids when they hit the teenage years but you would have gained their trust (fingers crossed). Just try to find better ways to monitor your kids till they are on the brink of adulthood.

We know what you did last summer

Teenagers have a knack for partying hard and getting into trouble. The problem is magnified when the follies of everyday life are documented online by unwary teenagers who are leaving a trail of mess behind them. With this knowledge, parents should keep an eye on the online activities of their children because info shared on social networking sites can be used as evidence in the court of law. You might not know if your kid is involved in something criminal but law enforcing authorities know exactly what your kid did last year at summer party. How? They simply scan emails of their target.

Healthy online image a must

Get down to the basics when teaching your kids about maintaining a healthy online image. It’s not that difficult to do so. The knowledge that you taught your children about maintaining a healthy public image in the real life will do in this situation. Kids should know that what they do in the invisible virtual world can destroy their real lives. A young lady posted the following on a social networking site that can also benefit you: “Post what you practice!”

Indestructible information

Parents should make it a point to impress upon their children the fact that things that are shared online are no more the property of the individual who shared the info in the first place. Everything, appropriate and inappropriate belongs to the internet and no one can mess with that.

Inappropriately appropriate

The rules of courtship have been redefined by technology. The initial interaction involves exchanging selfies and then some more when the relation between a teenage boy and girl blossoms. Keep a keen eye out to ensure that your kid is not exchanging inappropriate snaps of him/herself online. Such pictures have been responsible for ruining the careers of people in adulthood. Also teach your teens to set the privacy setting to maximum security.

So, should parents help their kids to control their online image? Yes all the way. Just don’t get caught when snooping on your children.