how to monitor internet activity on mac for teens

Its best if you do the search from inside their bedroom or wherever they normally get online from.

Andy ODonnell, MA, is a former freelance contributor to Lifewire and a senior security engineer who is active in internet and network security.

Ryan Perian is a certified IT specialist who holds numerous IT certifications and has 12 years experience working in the IT industry support and management positions.

We block a website, and they find a way around our blocking software.

Whats a parent to do We can never be sure that any of our parental controls will work, but we try our best to keep our kids safe.

Here are several ways to your internet parental controls a little more effective and harder to circumvent.

Let your kids know what is expected of them by teaching them about child internet safety.

Explain to them that you are trying to keep them safe and that you expect them to be responsible.

Let them know that while you trust them, you will still verify that they are following the rules and that their online use can and will be monitored.

One of the easiest ways for your child to circumvent your security settings is to reset your router to its factory default settings.

This usually involves simply pressing and holding a reset button located on the back of the router.

Once the router is reset, most routers will default to wide-open wireless with no encryption, revert to an easily googled factory-set password, and have most of its security features disabled.

The kids have an easy alibi because they can plead ignorance and blame it on a power spike.

Lock the router in a closet or somewhere way out of reach to prevent them from pressing the reset button.

Most routers have a setting which gives you the ability to cut off access to the internet at a certain time of day.

You lock your doors at night, right Do the same for your internet connection.

Go into your wireless routers setup and turn off your internet connection from midnight to 5 in the morning.

Time limits also prevent hackers from being able to attack your network during the set time-frame.

If you turn off the Remote Administration via Wireless feature on your router, then someone trying to hack into its settings (i.e.

Ethernet cable ) to the router.

Disabling this feature doesnt prevent you from being able to change your routers settings; it just makes it a little more inconvenient for you, your child, and hackers.

All of your firewalls and filters go out the window if little Johnny attaches to your neighbors unsecured wireless access point and starts leeching off of their internet connection.

This overrides your internet parental controls because your child is using a different network entirely.

Use the Wi-Fi search feature of your Wi-Fi enabled cell phone or laptop to see if there are any open Wi-Fi hotspots near your house that your child could connect to.

How To Monitor Internet Activity On Mac For Teens