How to Manage Kids and Computers

Like soccer practice, SpongeBob SquarePants and chicken nuggets, computers are part of the childhood landscape today.  In fact, software makers now market games suitable for a 1-year-old to play. Your diapered progeny can simply strike any key to move the activities along in, for example, the best-selling “Reader Rabbit Toddler.”

But overseeing how your kid and the computer grow up together also poses real challenges for parents and guardians. You want to make sure your children’s best interests are served as they navigate a digital world that includes not only the adventures of Reader Rabbit but also social networking, chat rooms, online games, instant messaging and assorted Internet snares.

The good news is that you’re not on your own.  Lots of good advice is available, and this article can also help you get oriented to some of the issues. To start, let’s talk about where to locate your kid’s PC.

Where to park it

It’s best to set up your “kid computer” in the vicinity of where you hang out — a common area such as the family room or kitchen. You may need to negotiate this with your privacy-craving teenagers, but for younger kids it just makes sense, because you can …

• Talk with them about what they’re learning and join the fun.
• Easily direct or rescue them when they’re having trouble.
• Watch and monitor Web sites they visit (if they’re allowed on the Internet).
• Make sure they have a proper chair and a monitor at the correct height, and check that other basic ergonomic standards are observed.(cont….)