Parents have a lot to worry about these days and the Internet has unfortunately added to them. An unrivalled research and communications tool, the Net can also open doors to everything from online predators and pornography to plagiarism and cheating. Among the sage advice parents need to share with kids these days is how to stay safe and appropriate online. Unfortunately, beyond "don't give out personal information" and "watch out for creeps", many adults are themselves at a total loss.

The simplest way to make it easier to monitor your kids’ Internet activities and limit time spent online is to place your home computer with Internet access in an open public area, not in a bedroom. Giving your kids secondary email accounts (only $2.50 per month from SWCP) attached your primary will give you some control over their email. Staying involved is also important. Actively checking the kids’ computer out from time to time is a good idea. Everything should be looked at from browsing history to the working state of your firewall - the latter to make sure your budding geniuses haven't disabled it to make online gaming easier or to download new (and potentially spyware-ridden) software.

If you need to get more Big Brother about it, there are numerous gadgets and packages that claim they can help, more all the time. Here are a few:

Website blocking technology is somewhat controversial. Claims are often made that some sites that should be blocked aren't and vice versa, or that the blocks can be evaded by tech-savvy teens. Cybersitter (www.cybersitter.com) is said to be better for older kids, while the more popular Net Nanny (netnanny.com) is aimed at younger ones.

Internet monitoring is also controversial but less intrusive. Webwatcher (awarenesstech.com) can both monitor and block invisibly from anywhere. For peer-to-peer monitoring, there's Guardian Monitor (guardiansoftware.com).

If time or access control is a problem especially when you're out of the house, Hopscotch Bob (hopscotchtechnology.com) is a lockout device that physically limits time spent in front of the screen. It works for TVs and video games, too.

Worried about your kids stealing others work? Tell them about Turnitin (turnitin.com), a site that specializes in spotting plagiarism in papers. Mainly designed for teachers, parents can use it too.

In a few school districts in New Mexico, you can control your kids' lunch spending with MealPayPlus, (mealpayplus.com) an online prepayment system for school lunches designed to eliminate both lunchtime bullies and the temptation to blow it on candy.

Finally, there are devices to locate kids via cellphones, even notifying the parent by email when they wander out of a designated zone, or car GPS units, monitoring location, time parked, and speed.

You may not find it necessary to actually use these products. Just hinting about them to your children might be enough!

by Jay Nelson, Editor