Many Chatting Options

You may know about FaceBook and MySpace because there is a pretty good chance you use these social networking media yourself. I admit, they can be a fun way to catch up with friends from high school and college, and others with whom you have common interests.

Did you know that your kids can chat and interact with others through their video game consoles, too? Nintendo's Wii, DS, Microsoft Xbox and Sony Play Station 3 all connect wirelessly to the internet. That means if you have a wireless internet connection in your home, your kids are probably playing games online with friends from school and with people they have met online by playing the game. But, as I learned when I googled the term "wii chat" they can also hold IM sessions via the Wii. They can probably do so with other consoles as well.

I think it's important to let kids know where you stand with their leisure activities. You may be okay with your child logging on and playing Mario Kart with a kid in their science class. Interacting with peers outside of school helps our kids build bonds, work through social interactions and ultimately feel more confident about themselves, I do feel very strongly, though that a child's access to the internet needs to be closely monitored. You may think that your kid won't ever do anything questionable on the web, but there is a chance they will. I use as an example the 8th grade son of a friend who was downloading porn. Prior to the incident, my friend didn't feel the need for any type of parental controls. Now, obviously, she has them. I didn't ask if her 6th grade daughter saw any of the images.

So how do you set parental controls? Thankfully for parents, there are many people who have taken the time to put instructions for us right on the internet. There's a wonderful website called www.ehow.com that has lots of useful information. I browsed the directions for parental controls and it looks like, if you can use a Wii, you can set controls. Here are the eHow Wii parental control directions:
www.ehow.com/how_2324319_use-wiis-parental-controls.html

You can block access to the internet, ratings of games you allow your kids to play, access to message boards and use of Wii points.

You may think I am the least trusting parent around. I have recommended limiting features kids can access on cell phones and now I am advocating the same for video game systems. I do trust my kids, but they are kids. Things they would never dream of doing suddenly start to happen because they see it on TV or hear others discussing it at school. I would prefer my child is safely using all his toys.

Thanks and enjoy your day!