Now days it can be very important to learn how to monitor children's internet activity. There are so many areas on the internet where children can meander, many times by accident, and they can be exposed to graphics, text, or video imagery which can be disturbing. Another red flag are chat rooms that children can stumble onto. With the amount of sickening predatory behavior that exists, it's very important learning how to monitor children's internet activity in order to keep kids safe.

1. Computer in the family room.

One relatively easy way to monitor activity is placing the computer in the family room, where usage can be observed. Many times parents will place computers in bedrooms or dens, isolated areas where there can be little observation. By keeping at least one computer in the main room, children are forced to be more careful and parents can keep an occasional eye on usage.

2. Internet History.

You can bring up your "cookies" function, or internet history tab, to reveal the websites which have been visited by your children. The downside of this, is that other people in the family - their internet history will get mixed in and it could be unclear which sites your children have visited. Another thing is that internet history can be cleared or erased. It's pretty easy, even children can figure out how to clear cookies.

3. Online Child Monitoring Software.

Perhaps the best way on how to monitor children's internet activity is by simply downloading monitoring software off the net. Here's how this works: You basically turn the software "on", when you know child use is going to occur. The software acts invisible and tracks all the activity that goes on. Messages, chat rooms visited, pictures downloaded, and so forth. You can turn the software off after child use and later backtrack to see if any disturbing areas of the internet have been visited by your child.