Tech Tip: Checking Browser Histories
Why It's Important to Check Browser Histories
It's easy...once you know how
What's a browser? Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari -- it's where you type in a Web address (other than Google)
Your browser keeps a list of destinations from most recent to oldest
A history can be cleared by anyone
Checking histories should be a regular part of managing your family's online lives
Find out where your kids have gone online
At Common Sense, we often recommend checking your tweens' and teens' browser histories. But what exactly does that mean? It's simple, really. So simple your kids know how to do it but you may not.
Let's start with "What's a browser?" A browser is what you use to interface with the Internet. The popular browsers are Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Yahoo, and Safari. To see where your kids have been online, simply open your browser and move your curser over to the little arrow to the arrow to the right of the long bar and see where your kids have gone.
Internet Explorer will show you fewer destinations than Firefox, which has a history Tab in the menu – in fact, you can see huge histories.
Just three other things to be aware of: Kids sometimes use multiple browsers, so check them all. And If you see no history, that means your kids have erased it. Covering their tracks probably means they've been somewhere they think you don't want them to go. That means it's time for a really good conversation about what you think is appropriate in your house.
Add comment