Browsing history

Hello everyone,

I wanted to continue our discussion of computer use during the summer break. Many kids will be using some kind of device for longer periods during this summer as we try to balance getting back to normal with keeping them safe at home and away from mixing with too many people.

On top of being careful with the number of hours they are looking at the screens, we want to balance encouraging them to [look up stuff that interests them] with [not looking at stuff that is not good for them]. Last time we mentioned the idea of parental controls. This time, I wanted to mention the idea of checking their browsing history.

You can see what was looked at in the browsing history. Most browsers will have a "history" button in the settings area (in Chrome this is the top right hand corner).
If there is not much in the history, your child might be erasing their history. Or they may be using the "incognito" mode. But most kids do not know about history tracking until they have been caught once or twice looking at stuff they are not supposed to.
It can be a good lesson for many young people that what happens online can come back later to affect them. Teaching them this lesson now before they are teenagers and the risks are higher can be a useful experience for our children.

This is just one side and approach to teaching internet safety to kids. You may prefer to be more hands on the whole time. But for many parents balancing work and family, this might be a useful approach.

This photo is thanks to:
PexelsでのCharlotte Mayによる写真: https://www.pexels.com/ja-jp/photo/5965896/