"Cell phones," warns the company, "can be a great way for children to keep in touch with family members," but they can also "serve as facilitators for cyberbullying, sexting and other dangerous behaviors."

That claim may be true to a point, but is reading each and every text message the best way to counteract these behaviors? For that matter, should parents be spying on their kids to this extent at all?

WebWatcher cites data from the Pew Research Center that states some 75% of those aged 12-17 now own cell phones, and half of teens send over 50 messages per day. One in three sends more than 100.

(Hope you parents have a lot of free time on your hands, because that remote snooping is going to take you awhile!)

More importantly, the data point that's skipped over when touting spyware like this... err, I mean remote monitoring software... is that teens text instead of calling their friends in many cases. In fact, Pew says than teens are 10 times more likely to text someone than call them.

That means, for many teens, text messages are the primary form of communication among a child's friends.

And parents reading those texts? Well, that would be the equivalent of a parent in days past surreptitiously picking up the extension (you know - the phone attached to the wall with a cable?) in another room to eavesdrop on a child's conversation.

Parental Spyware: For Those Who Can't Handle Tech?

The WebWatcher Mobile product complements the company's standalone suite of monitoring tools, but it's hardly alone here. A whole crop of parental spyware applications have risen up to serve the needs of parents who can't figure out (or can't be bothered, or don't have the time) to understand the modern Web. The PTA-endorsed SocialShield product, for instance, is another recent entry into this field. Like WebWatcher, it works across a number of sites, including Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Photobucket and others. SafetyWeb does the same. And of course there are the old standbys like Net Nanny, SpectorSoft and CyberPatrol, just to name a few.

Is this level of spying the right way to parent, though? There are alternates of course: Parents could educate their children instead, do spot checks to keep them on their toes, friend them on Facebook and elsewhere across the Web, and keep the computer in a public area of the home.

That said, there are some parents for whom monitoring software may be the right choice: the technologically un-savvy, for example. If the intricacies of Facebook and Twitter are confounding or if you still haven't figured out exactly how to type a text message yourself, you may be a good candidate for remote monitoring software.

A Warning to Parents Behind the Times

But keep in mind that your inability (or refusal?) to keep up with the times in terms of technology while allowing your children to outpace you by leaps and bounds is not only doing you a disservice - it's doing one to your children as well.

Sure, they may know their way around the social Web and cell phones better than you, but they haven't fully developed their interpersonal and social skills in a way that allows them to handle the issues that will inevitably come up.

As a new parent myself, I believe my job is to help my child learn and grow on her path to independence, which includes staying informed on all trends, both tech and otherwise. Parents who can't be bothered to figure out what that "tweet thing" is all about or what "sexting" is should not think this is a badge of honor to wear proudly, as if it makes them more mature somehow. It should be a signal that the world has surged ahead and they've been left behind in its wake.

And please, let's not make this a socio-economic issue, either. If you can't afford a computer or cell phone, then neither can your child. However, he or she may have access to them at friends' houses or at school. You have have access to them via your public library. Many public libraries offer free computer classes, too. You and your child could even take one together. Let your lack of technology comprehension guide you to a learning experience that helps you both, instead of being an issue where you child is left unparented because you don't know what you're doing.

Parental spyware, however, should be a last resort at best.

But that's just my opinion. What's yours?

Internet navigation and security firm OpenDNS has just launched FamilyShield, a free parental control service that requires no software download or CD to purchase. With two steps, claims the company, parents can protect their kids not only from inappropriate content, but also from malware, phishing sites and other known fraudulent entities on the Web.

According to OpenDNS, FamilyShield's set-up process is a straightforward procedure that involves only enabling the service. There are not, as is often the case with PC software programs, complex settings that have to be tweaked and configured. It's as close as you can get to a push-button configuration for a safe and sanitized Internet.

FamilyShield is also allows customers to protect an entire home network of computers, including Wi-Fi devices like Xbox 360's and Wiis. And it blocks proxies and anonymizers, too, tools that are often used by tech savvy kids to get around Web filters.

Although parents will likely be drawn to the new service for its Internet filtering component, there's another aspect to FamilyShield that should pique anyone's interest: the ability to block phishing and malware sites automatically. Although Google and other search services use their own filtering systems to warn Web surfers of potentially dangerous pages, they don't block users from accessing those pages. FamilyShield, however, does. And it keeps its list of blocked sites updated in real-time, 24 hours a day.

Experts Say: Don't Put All Your Eggs in One Basket

Security experts warn that parents shouldn't consider this service as an alternative to their current anti-malware protection, only an additional layer of defense. Changing your DNS settings is so simple it's "trivial," says Chet Wisniewski, senior security advisor from Sophos. Plus, even high-profile sites including the likes of Lenovo and the New York Times have been compromised by malware in the recent past. A DNS system would not have been able to block those types of infections.

Advice to Parents

That being said, as that extra layer of security - or simply as an Internet filter you don't have to pay for - OpenDNS is offering a great service for parents who don't have the time, money or inclination to purchase and install more advanced filtering and protection software.

Our advice? Parents looking to use FamilyShield should set it up on their home's wireless router, making sure the router has a complex password that the kids could never guess. Despite what security professionals have reportedly said for years - it is OK to write a password down on a piece of paper - just secure that paper! A complex password scratched on the back of a business card stored in your wallet is far more secure that one you made short and simple so you wouldn't forget it.

Still, we have to agree with the experts on one thing - nothing will really prevent a tech-savvy child from getting to the content you want to filter if they're truly motivated. No software program, service or hard-to-guess password can ever take the place of the best system: good parenting.

Parents are taking an active interest in their children's safety online, going as far as to checking their search habits, using parental controls and filters and setting limitations on the amount of time their kids spend online and on cell phones. Yahoo learned that 71% of parents have implemented one of these tactics in an attempt to keep their children safe online.

Another popular way for parents to keep an eye on their kids' online footprint is to run a search on their name and see what comes up. Dads seems to be more protective of their children online, as 53% said they search for their kids' names 2 to 3 times a year, while just 38% of moms do so. Dads are also slightly more likely (71% versus 63% of moms) to take action to help their kids understand the ramifications of posting information online.

Personally I find these numbers encouraging. Online privacy has been a hot topic for discussion lately with the highly-publicized concerns over Facebook - the social network of choice for the majority of Internet users. Overall, Yahoo gave parents a rating of B+ in terms of how well they are doing to protect their children. In other words, parents are doing okay, but there is still more they could be doing. Parents sometimes don't want to become a nuisance or a nag to their kids, but when it comes to online safety and privacy, it's a good thing to be annoying about.

Around the same time as the "privacy debacle," as we like to call it, unfolded, Facebook also announced a "Safety Advisory Board," a group whose purpose is to review safety-related procedures and documentation as well as make suggestions regarding best practices and other procedures. How about this safe practice, Facebook: don't publicize people's private information?

Facebook Safety Center: Educating Users on How Facebook Did Them Wrong

But the world changed and Facebook changed with it, or at least that's what CEO Mark Zuckerberg claims. The oversharers of the iGeneration have generally shrugged their shoulders at the threat of their private photos and updates having gone public. Their outrage? Practically non-existent. After all, this is the same group who grew up around sex offender scandals on MySpace, posted sexy "MySpace angles" photos mom and dad would be shocked to see, and who developed the trend of "sexting," texting revealing pictures to their crush du jour. So their status updates are public? Who cares?, they think.

Ah, but they should. The publicizing of private data has led to a host of issues in its wake, including harassment and cyberbullying, to name a few. Cases of teens committing suicide after becoming victim to abuse via social networks have also occurred, unfortunately.

No one could argue that cyberbullying and the like could occur among groups of friends, whether or not Facebook remained a private network. It's a valid contention - the dark underbelly of the human condition allows such behavior to exist, even amongst friends. But by exposing every little detail, photo and link to a user base that seems oblivious to the need of plugging the privacy holes, Facebook is simply allowing there to be more opportunity for someone to actually see the nasty comment made about them on a wall post... or the embarrassing photo of someone cheating on their boyfriend or girlfriend or spouse. It provides the fodder for the cyberbullies and the tools for those who seek to stalk, monitor or control another's behavior. It provides more avenues for abuse.

At the very least, it should provide a few tools to the potential victims, too.

Safety Center: Q&A's on Abuse Prevention, Reporting

That's what the Safety Center is for, at least in part. With Q&A's for how to deal with abuse, stalking, cyberbullying and unwanted wall posts, messages and chats, a good bit of the Center's guidance is aimed at reporting and stopping this unwanted behavior. Even in other Safety Center sections outside of "safety for teens," this information is essentially just rehashed for others, like parents and teachers, for example. (Teachers and law enforcement professionals get a few extra tips about Facebook, too, like how to maintain a professional presence or how to report a sex offender).

According to the Facebook blog post, the Safety Center's overhaul now features quadruple the information as in the prior help center, plus a "cleaner, more navigable" interface. The launch is one of the first initiatives from the Facebook Advisory Board, a new coalition of members including Common Sense Media, ConnectSafely, WiredSafety, Childnet International and The Family Online Safety Institute. Together, the board members will "accelerate our efforts to make Facebook a better and safer place to engage," notes Sullivan.

But Facebook already had an opportunity to make itself a safer place and they blew it. Private networks of friends and family sharing content amongst themselves doesn't lead to as much harassment, abuse and victimization of its users beyond the typical family brawl or fight amongst friends. But when you can see anyone's content - especially the stuff they thought was private - problems are going to occur. Facebook's new Safety Center is the result of the company having to deal with the fallout from that choice.

Using the new setting found at the bottom of any YouTube video page, you can switch Safety Mode on or off. And while parents will certainly be tempted to do so in an attempt to enable parental control mechanisms for the site, they should be warned that even the least tech-savvy youngster can easily shut this new feature in a minute or less.

According to a post on Google's YouTube blog, Safety Mode is enabled via a setting found at the bottom of any video page. To switch it on, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and look for the new option listed directly under the "current location" and "current language" settings. (Note: this is apparently still being rolled out, you may not see it immediately).

If this is the first time you're accessing the setting, the link will read "Safety Mode is off." Simply click the link to set Safety Mode on by selecting "on" from the bulleted choices provided. Then click "Save" to close the configuration dialog box.

This will switch on Safety Mode for your current browsing session, but it will not make the change permanent. In order to "lock" in Safety Mode, you'll first need to sign into your YouTube account with your password and then enable the setting. From that point forward, the option will remain enabled whenever you are logged into your YouTube account.

Designed for Parents

While on the one hand, it's nice to have an option to keep the more offensive content out of sight, the majority of YouTube users aren't likely to be offended by the service's current crop of videos. YouTube already has relatively stringent guidelines to keep pornography, images of drug abuse, graphic violence and other objectionable material from being hosted on their service.

Instead, the YouTube users who are going to be most interested in a content filter like this are parents. Since YouTube is home to a number of kid-friendly videos including everything from the Muppets to the odd, yet strangely addictive YouTube character called "Fred", the site has remained one of the top destinations on the net for children.

However, the new "Safety Mode" does little to prevent kids from seeing the content parents want to hide. Although once on it does a reasonably good job at filtering YouTube's vast array of material, it's only a button-click away from being turned off again. And if you think your kids can't find the button in need of clicking then you just don't know kids very well. If anything, today's youngest generation of Internet users are more tech-savvy than their parents, often having to help mom and dad navigate around the Web, not the other way around.

Yes, It is Meant to be a Parental Control Mechanism

Some may argue that "Safety Mode" isn't really intended to be a parental control mechanism - it's just meant to be a handy filter for those of us with more delicate sensibilities. But YouTube's own demo video states otherwise. "Safety Mode is an opt-in setting that helps screen out potentially objectionable content that you may prefer not to see or don't want others in your family to stumble across while enjoying YouTube," says the narrator. Who do you suppose those "others in your family" are? Granddad? Uncle Bob? No. Clearly YouTube is positioning the new setting as an option for parents.

In fact, in April of last year, Google informed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that they had begun work on a new content filter for precisely this purpose. The document (viewable here) states that Google was providing the information to the government agency in response to the proceeding initiated by the Child Safe Viewing Act of 2007, a policy created to examine the blocking technologies available on the Web. In the document, Google states:

YouTube engineers are working on a number of initiatives designed to give users and families greater control to moderate their YouTube experience, including the ability to filter video comments they find inappropriate. This new feature, which is currently being tested in the United States, gives users control to set their own comment preferences by enabling them to choose whether to see all video comments, no comments, or filtered comments.

This seems to show that Safety Mode, first and foremost, was designed to be a sort of parental control mechanism and not just another handy setting. But allowing anyone to click a button to enable or disable the filtering mechanism simply isn't good enough protection. Even if it's switched it on for a particular user account, the user can switch it off again just by scrolling to the bottom of the page.

It may have been better if YouTube had introduced special "kid accounts" which forced users on a particular computer to sign in in order to see YouTube videos. Once enabled on a PC, visitors to youtube.com could have been presented with a sign-in box, not the YouTube homepage. The accounts could then be managed by parents who could enable and disable the filter at will. Instead, the "Safety Mode" feature looks as if it's an attempt to placate the FCC and worried parents while not actually providing a anything the average web-savvy kid couldn't figure out in 30 seconds flat. So parents, enable the filter if you must, but remember, no technology - and especially not this one - can serve as a replacement for actual parenting.

Editor's note: This story is part of a series we call Redux, where we'll re-publish some of our best posts of 2009. As we look back at the year - and ahead to what next year holds - we think these are the stories that deserve a second glance. It's not just a best-of list, it's also a collection of posts that examine the fundamental issues that continue to shape the Web. We hope you enjoy reading them again and we look forward to bringing you more Web products and trends analysis in 2010. Happy holidays from Team ReadWriteWeb!

In an age when gross-out sites like goatse are just a click away, a number of services offer parents the information they need to find quality online entertainment. While past generations were raised on unfiltered television and video games, today's parent take a more active role in the process of media consumption.

AOL's PlaySavvy: PlaySavvy is another site that offers parents a chance to check out age-appropriate kids games. Similar to What They Play, this site lists the ESRB ratings next to games and information is categorized by topic and gaming system. Products for console favorites like Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii are often featured on the site. AOL also offers parents daily articles and a section to view the most popular games.

Parents' Choice: Established in 1978, this site is run by the Parents' Choice Foundation - a nonprofit organization that offers awards to the top children's media and toys. Some of the award categories include websites, video games, DVDs, software, television programming and toys. This site definitely skews towards narrative-based educational materials. If your kid has a shorter attention span, you might want to visit PBS Kids instead.

Common Sense Media: Common Sense media is a nonprofit organizations dedicated to offering parents reviews and suggestions on appropriate content. The group produces movie, website, TV, game, book and music ratings as well as a number of educational tools for classroom use. The site can be personalized for kids between the ages of 2-17 years old and it's available in English and Spanish. This site tends to weigh the benefits of mainstream media sites.

PBS KIDS Island: This site offers parents reading resources, videos and games in English and Spanish. While the majority of the content is best queued up by a parent or teacher, the videos are of particularly high quality and completely commercial free.

National Geographic for Kids: This site offers kid-friendly games, videos, stories and activities for nature lovers. The same photography that has made National Geographic a hit with grownups is likely to please kids. Not surprisingly, the video content is equally compelling. Discovery Kids offers a similar experience and is a great site for visual learners.

Totlol: Totlol is a parent-moderated version of YouTube. The site offers video options specifically designed for children and even offers "age optimized interfaces" to ensure that kids of different ages get the most appropriate content. In 2008, ReadWriteWeb covered Totlol's beta launch. As of today the site charges a $3 per month subscription fee or $54 until your child grows up.

Photo Credit:Swaminathan

AOL's PlaySavvy: PlaySavvy is another site that offers parents a chance to check out age-appropriate kids games. Similar to What They Play, this site lists the ESRB ratings next to games and information is categorized by topic and gaming system. Products for console favorites like Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii are often featured on the site. AOL also offers parents daily articles and a section to view the most popular games.

Parents' Choice: Established in 1978, this site is run by the Parents' Choice Foundation - a nonprofit organization that offers awards to the top children's media and toys. Some of the award categories include websites, video games, DVDs, software, television programming and toys. This site definitely skews towards narrative-based educational materials. If your kid has a shorter attention span, you might want to visit PBS Kids instead.

Common Sense Media: Common Sense media is a nonprofit organizations dedicated to offering parents reviews and suggestions on appropriate content. The group produces movie, website, TV, game, book and music ratings as well as a number of educational tools for classroom use. The site can be personalized for kids between the ages of 2-17 years old and it's available in English and Spanish. This site tends to weigh the benefits of mainstream media sites.

PBS KIDS Island: This site offers parents reading resources, videos and games in English and Spanish. While the majority of the content is best queued up by a parent or teacher, the videos are of particularly high quality and completely commercial free.

National Geographic for Kids: This site offers kid-friendly games, videos, stories and activities for nature lovers. The same photography that has made National Geographic a hit with grownups is likely to please kids. Not surprisingly, the video content is equally compelling. Discovery Kids offers a similar experience and is a great site for visual learners.

Totlol: Totlol is a parent-moderated version of YouTube. The site offers video options specifically designed for children and even offers "age optimized interfaces" to ensure that kids of different ages get the most appropriate content. In 2008, ReadWriteWeb covered Totlol's beta launch. As of today the site charges a $3 per month subscription fee or $54 until your child grows up.

Photo Credit:Swaminathan

A new study from BabyCenter shows that mothers' social media use has increased 462 percent over the past three years. The same group's mobile web usage is up 348 percent over the same period of time. And these moms aren't just keeping tabs on secretive teenagers. They're networking for themselves, finding answers online, and sharing stories about their offspring. The two-part study was conducted between 2006 and 2009 in conjunction with NovaQuant. BabyCenter also conducted a series of 18 in-depth surveys between January and June of 2009

As far as hardware is concerned, almost all moms - 91 percent - say they never leave home without a mobile device. More than half say they have replaced traditional photo albums with online photo-sharing services. And moms are also the primary console gamers in the household after the birth of a first or second child.

Health is an important vertical for digital moms. Again, the report reads, "In online communities, children's health issues are the leading topic of interest in online communities (91 percent), followed by childhood development tips (79 percent)." Mothers are also seeking out expert medical advice, parent-to-parent wisdom, and product reviews via social media.

As Gen X and millenial women and men come of age and start families, their technological preferences are applied to new aspects of life, as well. Longstanding sites such as BabyCenter and niche startups such as LilGrams are in excellent positions to serve the needs of digital parents and connect them to brands, hopefully in ways that are relevant, helpful, and innovative.

A new application in the iPhone App Store brings parental control mechanisms to Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch. Like other types of "net nanny" software, the iWonder application lets parents filter web site traffic, monitor what sites their kids are surfing, control permissions, and even remotely disable the device.

The company touts that their software can even save a child's life: "For example, if you see traffic from your child's iPhone or iPod touch looking for information on suicide, explosives or other alarming material you will know instantly. If your child is on MySpace and is talking to a pedophile, you will see the profile of that person, and any activity between them and your child."

While that may be true in a handful of cases, for most kids, just knowing there is a monitoring application on their device will probably keep them out of trouble on the net, the same as with a monitored home PC.

Should Kids Get Smartphones?

However, the availability of software like this raises some questions that parents may need to ask themselves...questions about invasion of privacy or whether they should disclose to their child that the software is in use, etc. But perhaps the biggest question is this: how old should my child be before they can have an iPhone or iPod Touch?

In the past, iPods were just music players and cell phones were basic devices that simply made phone calls. But today, even the least sophisticated phones have web browsers, IM applications, SMS, and email. So the question applies not just to parents whose kids are clamoring for the latest Apple device, but to parents everywhere who are unsure as to when to introduce technology like this into their children's lives.

According to a study that came out last fall, nearly half the kids 8 to 12 years old in the U.S. own cell phones, with most getting their first phone between ages 10 and 11. Among "tweens," 46% own these devices. And just last month, a U.K. study revealed that the average age for "kids' first phone" was 8.

There's no doubt that many parents want their children, even children as young as 8, 9, and 10, to own a phone. For one, having mom and dad on speed dial can help kids stay safe in case they ever get lost or find themselves in some sort of trouble. But on iPhones and iPod Touches, unfettered access to the web is just a feature of the device. And that makes parents wonder, is it really safe to put the entire internet into a child's pocket?