Spector
Pro as a Child Recording
Tool The
Internet opens a
world of possibilities
for your children
that were not available
when you were a
child, or even as
recently as a few
years ago.
From a personal computer with an Internet connection, your child
has access to almost
any encyclopedia,
dictionary, book,
magazine or newspaper
in the world. Your
child can chat with
friends and relatives,
meet new people,
learn foreign languages,
develop new interests.
There
is no doubting the
tremendous benefits
the Internet brings
to your family.
The
flip side is that,
while the world
is at your child's
fingertips, the
world is also allowed
into your home.
While
most of these people
who come into your
home through the
Internet are very
nice, some of them
are looking for
your name, your
address, phone number
and other personal
information. Some
are even looking
for a child with
whom to have sex.
In
fact, it is estimated
that at least 50,000
pedophiles descend
on the Internet
every day with one
goal in mind: to
find a child, strike
up a relationship,
and eventually meet
with the child.
What
can you do?
As
a parent, you essentially
have 3 choices:
- Disconnect
your child from
the Internet
- Filter
or censor what
your child can
access on the
Internet.
- Monitor
and Record what
your child does
online and who
he/she chats with
so that you can
better guide your
child as to what
is appropriate
and what is inappropriate.
Option
number 1 is like
throwing the baby
out with the bath
water. There is
too much value to
be derived from
the Internet to
shut it off, and
your child will
be at a tremendous
disadvantage when
part of their homework
assignment is to
do research on the
Internet.
Filtering
or censoring is,
in our opinion,
better than option
1, and until recently,
was about your only
option. However,
there are far too
many problems with
filtering and censoring.
The
first problem with
filtering is that
it depends on your
constantly downloading
lists that prevent
your child from
visiting certain
sites. Since thousands
of new sites come
onto the Internet
each day, keeping
up is virtually
impossible.
The
second problem with
filtering is that
every family has
a different set
of values about
what is objectionable
and what is acceptable.
There is no way
than any one filter
list can be appropriate
for all families.
The
third problem is
that many filtering/censoring
products create
lists of keywords
which, when encountered,
prevent you or your
child from accessing
a site that has
that keyword. For
example, let's say
the word "breast"
is on the keyword
list. Seems reasonable,
right? Well what
if USA Today has
an article on breast
cancer? What if
Tyson has an article
on chicken breast
meat? Well, too
bad, because breast
is a "bad word",
so you or your child
are not allowed
access to that site.
So
disconnecting your
child from the Internet
is not a good choice,
and filtering/censoring
is a poor choice.
That leaves the
third option: monitoring
and recording what
your child does
online, and whom
your child talks
to online.
With
this option, your
child has access
to he Internet and
there is no filtering
or censoring. However,
if your inform you
child that he/she
is being monitored
and recorded and
that you can review
what has been done
later, your child
will behave much
more responsibly
when surfing the
Internet.
In
addition, because
you can review with
your child their
online activity,
you can help guide
your child as to
what is appropriate
and what is inappropriate.
In
addition, through
reviewing chat conversations
and e-mails, you
can determine whether
an adult stranger
has been trying
to develop a questionable
relationship with
your child, long
before it has a
chance to develop
into something that
could become dangerous.
After
examining the options
available to address
the very real dangers
children face on
the Internet, SpectorSoft
decided that monitoring
and recording was
the most reasonable
option.
We
believe that parents
need to spend time
with their children,
especially when
they are surfing
the Internet, but
we also understand
that a parent cannot
always be present
when the child is
online. Spector
Pro helps to bridge
that gap, by recording
what the child does
so that the parent
can review this
at a later time.
Because
Spector Pro acts
like a video recorder
for PC and Internet
activity, you will
be able to SEE
EXACTLY what
your child has been
doing online. Spector
Pro records all
web sites visited,
all programs run,
all keystrokes typed,
all chat conversations,
and all e-mails
sent and received.
Spector Pro even
records Internet
based e-mails like
Hotmail and Yahoo
Mail. |