Keeping Children Safe on the Internet

As a parent, it is my job to make sure my children are safe. I teach them from the beginning what the word, “no” means. I teach them that the stove is not to be touched and that fire is hot. I teach them not to run out in the street before looking both ways. It is also my job to teach them how to be responsible and safe adults. Some people may call me a “helicopter mom,” and that’s okay. It is my responsibility to know what my kids are doing at all times, so long as they live in my house.

While we don’t have a lot of rules in our house, except when it comes to the internet  we are strict. I remember the days of no internet. We did research in the library, at a table full of encyclopedias and note cards. I typed my first high school term paper on a typewriter. It wasn’t until college that I really started using the internet for some of my research. That being said, I now use the internet most of the time. I want my kids to know how to use the internet. However, since the internet is a free space, there is so much out there I do not want them to see.

Even though we place restrictions on the internet and its usage, kids are still kids. Things we don’t want them to see will sneak in, even if by accident. All they have to do is misspell a word and something inappropriate is on the screen. For instance, one of my younger brothers was working on a paper in high school, back in the earlier days of the internet. He simply typed in “spanking” for his paper on capital punishment. You can imagine the images that came up on the screen. He immediately yelled for my Dad who quickly removed it. It was a good lesson in making sure you use proper language and one that has stuck with me.

Over the past few months, we have looked into different web services that provide parents a way to restrict what is viewed. I am so pleased with the one we found. My Torch is a WiFi router that puts you, the parent in control. My Torch offers safety, time management and insights for each device.

My Torch is also easy to set up. My husband does all the tech stuff in our house and had it set up in less than an hour – including the set up of profiles and restrictions for our children’s devices. I love that I can go in and adjust their settings at any time. I also love that I can set time limits on their devices. My Torch has set up a number of websites and subjects that you can either restrict or not, but it also gives you the ability to restrict by website url. I love that feature, especially with the number of new sites that hit the internet each day.

Once we got everything set up, we checked the signal strength against our current WiFi router and we were amazed. My Torch was actually better! I was sold! As a blogger, I need high-speed internet and a good WiFi signal. As a parent, I was thrilled that I didn’t have to sacrifice speed for my children’s protection.

Disclosure: I received compensation in exchange for writing this review.  Although this post is sponsored, all opinions are my own. Click here to read my full disclosure statement.