Using the Internet for homework, entertainment, and connecting with others is becoming more and more of a given for many families. This makes the challenge of setting limits on Internet use more complex than ever.

A study published in the December 2005 issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family – “Teenagers’ Internet Use and Family Rules: A Research Note,” provides one of the first studies on parental monitoring of children's Internet use. The data used in the study came from a larger survey for the Pew Internet & American Life Project conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates. 754 parents and their children aged 12-17 years who use the Internet were interviewed by telephone. The study found that the majority of parents report regulating their teenage children's Internet use, but parents report more monitoring (61 percent) than teens report (38 percent). Further analyses of the data indicate fathers, younger parents, parents who use the Internet with their children, and parents with younger teens engage in the highest levels of parental monitoring.

As opposed to rules related to television viewing, the Internet presents new challenges to parents’ ability to supervise their children’s usage. Unlike television, where parents and children are equally skilled (unless perhaps you’re trying to record something!), kids are typically more Internet savvy than their parents – 64 percent of online teens say they know more about the Internet than their parents, and 66 percent of parents agree. 

So where does one begin in establishing family rules in relation to the Internet? The New York University Child Study Center recommends parents be alert to three main areas of concern:

* Excessive use of the Internet for exploring/chatting with others. Chatting and browsing can become highly addictive and can distract children from their everyday responsibilities and raise the risks identified by the next two concerns. 

* Children's exposure to inappropriate material. Don't let the Internet teach your children things that you don't want them to learn without some guidance from you.

* Contact with people who may want to abuse children. Parents should make every effort to know what web sites kids are browsing, what chat rooms they're using, and what kinds of e-mails they're receiving. Be sure to get to know your child's computer friends. Be as careful (if not more careful) with online friends as with real friends.

More specifically, the North Carolina Department of Justice posts the following as a sample, or starting point, for the development of Family Internet Rules:

Using the computer is a privilege. In order to enjoy this privilege and use the computer, we agree to follow these rules:

1. Computer use is not confidential, and we do not hide what we are doing on the computer.

2. In our family, we get permission to access the Internet, and we use our personal login.

3. We visit websites that are appropriate for our age, and we do not visit websites or access information that are “off limits” for us.

4. We don’t send photos or give out personal information without permission, and we will tell our parents about any online messages we receive that make us uncomfortable.

5. We share an email account with our parents. We will not open or use any other email accounts.

6. We do not enter chat rooms.

7. We can go online between the hours of      and      .

8. Time on the computer is limited to:       Hour(s) per day.

9. Time on the Internet is limited to:       Hour(s) per day.

10. Instant messaging is only allowed with people that we already know. We will provide our parents with a current list of our “buddies.”

11. We do not respond to messages from people we do not know.

12. These rules apply to our home computer and all other computers we use.

The rules in our household vary somewhat from these and, depending on circumstances, vary from child-to-child. My point is, every family with children and Internet access should develop guidelines appropriate for their household, and then enforce and discuss them frequently.

Rich Batten is the father of four, a certified family life educator and the family and consumer science agent for the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension Office in Douglas County Colorado. For more parenting resources visit www.douglascountyextension.org