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Keeping Your Kids Safe While They’re Online

Your children are your greatest responsibility. You must keep them safe and protected, and there are only so many ways you can do that. You don’t want to be too restrictive and stop them from having adventures, but you want to restrict them enough that they are kept safe from harm as much as possible. One area where kids can get in trouble easily is the Internet. They can find sites that they shouldn’t be on, and they can end up giving information to people who don’t need it. You don’t want that to happen, naturally, so you need to monitor them online. There are programs you can get that will only allow them to view specific sites, so that’s something to be aware of.

They may not like it, and they may also try to find ways to get around it, so watch out for those kinds of things. Many browsers come with settings that you can adjust to reduce the number of ‘dangerous’ or ‘questionable’ sites people can visit on your computer. Be sure to look into making that adjustment. You can get help with that through the company that makes your Internet browser or through an online tech forum if you’re not sure about the settings. That’s also a good thing to do if you have sites that you go to but that you don’t want your children going to, like those that offer online casino games.

It’s great for adults to play them, though, so you might want to spend some time gambling for fun when your kids are sleeping or doing something with their friends. As long as you play responsibly, you can get a lot of joy out of these kinds of games. It’s a good way to relax and find something quiet to do if you just want to unwind for a little while.

Filed Under: File Sharing, Internet Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Tax Season is Near!

There might not be a more stressful season for families than tax season. Parents especially face the season with a feeling that borders on dread if not fear. Helping out working children with their taxes only multiplies the stress for the resident family accountant. Every tax offers its own set of problems. Tax code is impossibly complex and not meant to be understood by causal observers. Thousands of tax court cases get decided every month and governing bodies pass new tax laws nearly every other week. Even though it might seem like a cop-out, filing through a third party tax service might be the best option for tax payers seeking to maximize their tax returns and spare themselves the stress of filing their tax paperwork incorrectly.

Rather than navigate the difficult tax code alone or act as an accountant for an entire family, TurboTax helps clients get organized and provides them with the best possible tax return, while removing the stress of filing. Rather than worry about filling out the paperwork or understanding how to maximize the returns for each member of a family, using a third party service can provide clients with rapid returns that ensure the largest possible refund. Even though hiring a professional to complete tax paperwork costs money, it often costs more to not use a service. Even though the filing service is not free, there are ways to cut back on the costs.

TurboTax coupons are an intelligent and frugal way to maximize a tax return, while saving on a valuable service. It might not seem that there are ways to save on using a service such as TurboTax, but there are many competing services that offer tax payers ways to save while seeking ways to maximize their returns. Getting the best return also means finding the best service.

Filed Under: Internet, Security Tagged With: , ,

Use Computer Tools to Limit Internet Access

It is the duty of all parents to protect their children. This means not only providing a safe and secure home but keeping the kids safe when they surf the internet. There are computer tools and software at your disposal to make sure that they do not engage in inappropriate activity and you need to take the time to make sure these safeguards are in place.

One of the best programs to protect your kids as they go out onto the world wide web is Net Nanny. This internet filter software program will block access for your children to social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. It will monitor discussions in chat rooms and immediately cut off any inappropriate talk. It will provide parents with a complete report on which sites your child has visited and is an excellent tool to allow your child to go online safely. The software is not only available for PC use but also works with a wide variety of mobile devices.

Windows itself will allow you to set up internet protections so that your children do not have access to the same websites that you do. Each family member can be given their own log in name and password with profiles on what type of material they can access. By using the program, parents can limit the sites that their children can visit and the types of games that they can play.

Be advised that a computer program can not take the place of a parent however. It is absolutely essential that after you install the safeguards on the computer you continue to monitor how your child is using the internet. If they have an email account, check and see who they are corresponding with and what the subject matter is. If images have been exchanged, you need to make sure that any photos which have been downloaded are not pornographic.

Filed Under: Cyper-Bullying, Internet Tagged With: , , ,

Using Social Networks to Bully

The modern day bully does not even have to raise a fist or utter a threatening word. Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace make it possible to spread rumors and tease people without ever having to leave their computer. Smear campaigns have been well documented and in some cases have lead to teen suicides and criminal charges.

Internet bullying is tough to police because people can hide behind made up names or nicknames. Anyone can establish a MySpace account or get a Facebook Address and you do not have to use your own name. It is even hard to stop people who use their own names from spreading ugly rumors or disseminating incriminating photos that can be very embarrassing.

The most publicized cases of internet bullying have involved girls who sent a nude photo to a boyfriend only to later have that photo fall into the wrong hands. It may have been an angry boyfriend who sent the photo to his friends after a break up or a jealous girl who got her hands on the image and sent it out with the label slut.

There have even been cases where people used the social networking sites to play a cruel hoax on an unsuspecting person. One of these cases involved Megan Meier who killed herself after news of the prank pulled on her became public. A neighbor of the teen posed as a teenage boy who acted like he was attracted to Megan. Once the woman posing as the boy earned her confidence she began to attack her and make fun of her. The women pulling the cruel hoax was the mother of another girl Megan’s age and that girl and another person got involved in the smear campaign. While the case was investigated by police in Missouri, no criminal charges were ever filed against the people who made up the phony MySpace account.

Filed Under: File Sharing, Internet Tagged With: , , ,

There are Many Different Types of Bullying

When you think of bullying, you probably first think of someone physically intimidating someone else. The typical bully threatens violence to get what he wants or just to scare his victim. Physical bullying is only one of several ways that bullies pick on others.

Verbal harassment is a very common form of bullying and should be considered every bit as serious as physical bullying. Name calling and teasing can have serious long term side effects that can scar the victim for life. This type of bullying usually attacks some physical attribute that the victim has or their race or religion. In schools, it is very common for girls to be teased about their weight even by adults. Two thirds of all teens surveyed say they have been bullied verbally or know someone who has been picked on in this way.

There are other types of indirect bullying which also should not be tolerated. It could be through exclusion or by spreading rumors behind someones back. Not allowing someone to participate in a playground game or not letting someone sit at their lunch table is a form of indirect bullying. This is harder to spot but is just as harmful.

Cyber bullying is another type of this offensive behavior. It has become very easy through electronic communication to spread gossip and lies about other people. There have been a number of cases where teens have been driven to suicide because of text messages that were sent by cell phone or posts made on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. The anonymity of the web gives the offender a chance to hide their identity and make up whatever rumor they want. In some cases, they have used the internet to spread embarassing photos that were supposed to be private. This type of bullying is spreading the fastest.

Filed Under: Cyper-Bullying, Internet Tagged With: , ,
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