Think before you click

                       Think before you click 

Now a days, many people use internet. They shop, tweet, post, read news, and get information in online because it is more comfortable there but you should be always careful using it.

We are all one click away from being pulled into an information portal, filled with erroneous, distracting and at times dangerous material. We are also one click away from making a public gaffe, mistakenly sharing information not intended for a wider audience, in the form of an email, a wall post, text or chat message.

To Filter or Not to Filter

How can parents help to instill the "think before you click" mindset in their child? Should parents use filters to help with this process?

The value of filters is that they make it harder to slip easily into objectionable content. The filter wall asks the user to stop, pause and think before clicking further. The filter in essence serves as the conscience on your shoulder and slows the pace of super-fast clicks that can have consequences, in terms of both faulty information and sharing information that should not be seen by a wide audience.

One advantage of filters, particularly as mobile devices make working in one shared space more difficult to manage, is that the filter creates a walled garden to protect the online content that can enter the household when a parent is not around.

One disadvantage is that the filter creates a false sense of security and abdication on the part of the parents. If there is a filter, the thinking goes, then it's easy for the parent to say, "I'm off the hook, and now I don't need to monitor what my kid does online." Also, kids are savvy and can easily figure out ways to skirt the filter. The parent can end up playing a game of cat and mouse with the child, particularly as the child gets older and grows more sophisticated.

Difficult Choices

As with any parenting choice, the question to consider is what will the child do when confronted with a situation outside of the home, away from the home ground rules, whether or not there are filters imposed.

For example, a child is at a sleepover in a household with no filters and loose supervision. The child is playing online with the friend and they explore a social networking site like Omegle, which advertises the possibility of meeting strangers. The kids start to "play" and encounter a stranger who starts asking personal questions.

This is a tough spot for a kid to be in and it can be especially tricky if the other child wants to continue to "play" and does not see the danger or inappropriateness of the "play."

What options does the child have?

• Stop "playing" and walk away.
• Tell the parents.
• Say nothing and continue to "play," but at a distance.
• Ask to call home and be picked up right away (some parents choose to use a conversation code for when the child wants to be picked up, so it's not obvious that the child wants out).

The "information diet" that children consume has consequences, as do the clicks. Parents need to figure out the best way to approach teaching "think before you click," and schools can serve as the sounding board for helping each parent to determine how to handle their individual child and household. It's challenging for parents to do this work alone, and they don't need to. Schools have hundreds of data points and can help parents navigate the best approach to take with their children in the area of clicks and consequences.