While some kids may have found more time to surf idly online during the summer, very often, parents are able to curtail that time. Now with school back in the picture, kids have the excuse they need to 'legally' be online and surfing the Internet even more.

Many teachers now post homework online, encourage online research and require properly typed homework. Thus, parents have no choice but to allow their kids to be on the computer. However, unsupervised time can quickly turn to mischief. Instead of doing research for a report, they may be updating their MySpace and Facebook pages or chatting online.

Going back to school also means forging new school friendships and participating in new activities. There is no doubt that kids keep in constant touch over the Internet throughout the summer, but they may find themselves becoming friends with classmates they weren't friends with before or perhaps befriending the new student at school. Add to that the joining of special clubs or sports, and there is a definite chance of new friends popping up on your child's social network page and IM buddy lists.

Parents need to remember: stay in control! Set up a schedule for computer time and implement rules of proper usage for the home computer. If your kids are supposed to be doing schoolwork, make sure they are doing schoolwork, and explain to them why it's important to focus on the task at hand.

But at the same time, make sure that you don't forget to allow your kids free time to surf, chat and play games. Think of it like eating: a healthily balanced diet is the key to a healthy child… in this case, it's mental health and safety.

Parental control and monitoring software combined with proper communication is the recipe for success. PC Pandora monitoring software can help parents keep their kids safe both on and offline. First-rate monitoring capabilities will record all user activity through sequential snapshots, which allow you to visually see everything your child does online. If your kids are spending 5 minutes doing homework and 55 minutes chatting online, you will know.

PC Pandora also records activity through text-based files that capture all emails sent and received, instant messenger conversations, websites visited, programs accessed, peer-to-peer files shared, keystrokes logged, search queries, webcam output, plus file and document tracking. The program also allows parents to prevent programs from being accessed, i.e. Instant Messenger, and also helps filter out inappropriate web content or block specific websites - parents can even customize an 'access denied' message. Also, the IRIS feature allows parents to receive updates on their child's activity when they are not able to be home. This is invaluable to any working parent, as it'll give them the information they need to be able to enforce Internet and computer rules when they aren't at home.

Classes back in session means kids have the excuse they need to be on the computer and online all the time. But with proper communication and effective parental control and monitoring software, parents can make sure their kids are not abusing online privileges and staying safe. A 2-hour trial of PC Pandora is available at www.pcpandora.com.

Teenage Online Statistics:

A recent Pew Internet & American Life Project report says:

* 94 of online teens go online daily

* 94 do so on a typical day

* 32 say they were made scared or uncomfortable by the stranger contact

* Social network users more likely to have been contacted by strangers

* 32 of parents say they check up on their teens after they go online - This means that 35 of families have monitoring software on the computer that their child uses - This means that 55 of parents have no rules about media use at all - This figure should be ZERO!