Your child is riding their bike. You keep glancing outside to make sure they are ok. You see a car approaching quickly and notice your child doesn’t hear the car. The driver of the car is on their cell phone, not paying attention to their surroundings. You run outside, yelling your child’s name. They hear you and quickly move out of the way. Your child is saved from harm…this time. But what if you didn’t check on them? They may have never heard the car, and the outcome been much different.

No matter how savvy our children become at different things, they still need us and they still want us to be part of their lives. My son can play video games like nobody’s business, whereas I can’t even walk a character in a straight line. But he still likes for me to watch him play MW2 and enjoys when I try to play with him. As a parent, I receive many perks. We laugh together. I ask questions and glean knowledge from my son about his online “friends”. I learn how they chat, how the online game updates work, and open the lines of communication to talk about what’s new in his gaming world. What level has he gotten to? Does he have any new “friend” requests? Who are they? Are they communicating in an appropriate manner?

Do I know even 1/10th as much as he does when it comes to video games? No! Not even close! But I’m taking the time to learn. I know that I’m nowhere near a gaming “expert”, but I am involved and can see something coming down the pike that isn’t quite right, like that car coming way too fast and not seeing my son on his bike.

The same principle rings true for the Internet. We as parents don’t have to know every little detail about it. But we need to put aside our excuses, embrace learning the basics and keep the lines of communication open with our kids. Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing with you some basics about Internet browsing and the more popular social networking sites.