Parents today have double the hassle of taking care of their child. Not only do you keep an eye on them in the real world, now you need to look out for their goings on in the internet world as well. Most parents agree that parental control can be exercised easily offline because then, in the real world, children cannot hide most things and if they do they can be found out and monitored post haste. What scares most parents is the online world. The internet is not only full of mystery, it is vast, its reach is global, which makes monitoring a child's activity difficult and complicated.
However, whether you are exercising parental control online or offline, the key to be a parent that the child can see as someone he/she can respect and obey is to keep the balance between control and concern. Control is seen as restricting and limiting. Most children rebel against this style of parenting. Concern, on the other hand, invokes feelings of regard and worry which children naturally yield to. Psychologists are of the opinion that parents need to learn to make children understand that as minors in their care, parents have the right to be involved in whatever affairs their children get into, this is not because they want to pry but because there might be cause for worry.
Parental control ultimately will have its limits. As the child grows, he/she will need to learn to figure things out sensibly. A good parent will teach the child to be resourceful and self-reliant so he/she can make decisions that demonstrate good sense and sound judgment, whether online or offline.
