Many parents are highly concerned about the safety and viewing habits of their children on the internet. There are ways to block content from some sites as well as set up special types of accounts to protect children, but these measures generally only work on the youngest of children. By the time a child reaches their teen years, they will likely be computer savvy enough to bypass most if not all of these measures. Therefore a parent must find another way to keep track of what their kids are exposed to online.

One tool available to parents are key loggers. Key loggers come in both hardware and software versions. The software version of these monitoring programs run hidden in the background and record what your child is doing. The hardware versions accomplish the same thing but consist of a small device that plugs into the computer between the computer and the keyboard. Today, the software version is by far the most common and the hardware versions are generally reserved for when a person is not able to log onto the target computer.

The most flexible for of key logger is by far the software version. There are hundreds of these programs available. Some simply do what the name suggests and logs the characters that your child types. From there you can see what he is saying in chat, email, etc. The more advanced and much more versatile versions record every aspect of your child’s use of the computer. It records both sides of chat conversations, captures screen shots, records all websites visited and many other aspects of computer usage.

The monitoring programs have another useful feature that can come in handy if your child has his or her own computer. the program can be configured to periodically send the reports to you via email. this way you can even monitor your kids while you are at work. If you prefer, the files can also be transfered using FTP if you have that type of account. You control how often the files are sent to you.

These programs are generally easy and quick to install. Some of the monitoring programs that are feature rich take a little longer to configure and tweak to your exact needs. For these it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with these features before you decide to install them. Most of the programs can be installed in either visible or stealth mode, depending on your needs. In stealth mode, a series of distinctive keystrokes is required to open the program. the programs can also be remotely installed on the target computer by sending the program disguised as another file. This file could be an mp3 or a picture file that your child would be likely to open. Once they click on the file to open it, the program automatically installs itself in stealth mode. This is another handy feature if you don’t have easy access to your child’s computer.

Whatever you choose, be sure to weigh the pros and cons of your child’s safety versus your child’s privacy. Trust is a big things in kids, especially teenagers and this type of monitoring program can be seen as a major intrusion into their life. However, as a parent, you sometimes must do what’s best for your child’s safety regardless of the consequences. These key logger monitoring programs are just one more tool you can use to protect your child.