Parents snoop on net usage
SCOTT Paterson trusts his children - he just doesn't trust everyone else on the internet.
The IT expert knows all too well the dangers present on the net, and will do anything to protect his two teenage children.
"I don't call it spying, I call it monitoring," Scott said.
The Rockhampton father uses a free Australian Government program to block his children's access to particular sites, such as adult websites.
"It keeps a log of when they try to access them and lets me know," he said.
"It also lets me make sure no-one is trying to contact them."
According to the latest AVG Technologies Digital Diaries global study, nearly half of parents in Australia are keeping tabs on their teens by "spying" on their internet use.
It also found that 57% of Australian parents have "friended" their children on Facebook.
Scott said he was friends with both his children on Facebook, which allowed him to get the "general gist" of what they were up to.
"I trust them, it's not to check on them," he said. "It's just good to put the rules down."
But Scott said if he was really worried about his children, he wouldn't hesitate to access their accounts.
"I would only be doing it to help them and the way I see it the more information you have about the situation the better."
While it might be important for parents to connect with their children online, Scott said it was also important offline.
"You need to talk to the kids as well.
"It all comes down to the relationship you have with them."
