Each week in Moms Talk, our Moms Council of local parents takes your questions, gives advice and shares solutions.

Today, we take on the question of whether you should monitor or restrict your child's Internet use, and what is the best way to do so? Grab a cup of coffee and check out what our panel of local parents has to say. 

Kat Lynch: Our son Miles is too young to really use the Internet that much. We do monitor and restrict his use. He's allowed to play around on the PBS Kids website and the Lego website, but that's it. My husband and I have reviewed a good portion of each site to ensure he's only accessing age-appropriate content. We limit his time online, usually between 15-30 minutes, depending upon whether he has already watched TV.

Gillian Casey: I think it is important to monitor your children’s use of the Internet. I also think it can be difficult to do with the Internet so readily available on phones these days. My children are young, so it is not a major issue for us, but we do allow them to play games online as well as watch videos on YouTube. We often pull up YouTube if we are about to do something we have never done before and our kids want and need an understanding of what’s coming next (i.e. a trip to Story Land or Disney).

Outside of YouTube, our kids spend time on the Nick Jr. site and navigate it pretty well. Our computer is in a very central and visible area of our house, and they are always monitored when using it. They still prefer to play Wii than use the computer, so we do not have to restrict their time on it since they don’t ask very often to use it.

They are much more likely to ask for our iPhones, which is more difficult to monitor. The latest trick we’ve learned is to turn on airplane mode so there is no access to the Internet (and therefore random YouTube videos – we learned that lesson the hard way) and allow them to play with many of the games we have on our phones. Their current favorite is Bubble Ball, but we have also great learning apps for letters and sight words.    

I am very curious to hear what other moms have to say when it comes to monitoring and restricting usage for older kids, so we are prepared for the next phase. 

Lindsay Barnes-Felix: I think this is a no brainer for parents/guardians, but it is something we can often forget to do in our whirlwind days. We monitor and restrict Internet use for all three of our children. I think the obvious concerns are about children using and logging on to sites with games where you can virtually interact with others. My 3-year-old can go on sproutonline.com, create a puppet or be wished happy birthday and have it broadcasted live on their TV show. At first glance this is so cool, but wait, now some creep has my daughter's name, age and location, not to mention a photo of her if I were to upload one with her birthday wishes! 

Our 10-year-old not only blogs but has his own phone, laptop, Facebook page, Skype account and email, and it is very difficult to monitor his use, but we absolutely make it a priority. If we take away the laptop and cellphone, he is smart enough to go online through his gaming consoles, and if those are taken away, he has discovered that he can access online directly through our cable box on the television. Our 7-year-old enjoys playing games online with his laptop or the gaming consoles, but what scares us the most is that he plays the games that interact with other people.

We hold extremely high expectations for our children when it comes to following the rules and their safety, and have implemented them at very very young ages. We consistently and repeatedly speak about online safety, we ask questions and listen to their answers, we bombard them while online and we review everything. 

I also encourage you to upload every and any software you can for safeguarding your computers. As always, communication is key with your children. Speak with them often about what is going on in their lives, even if you already know. Simple engagement can allow signs of trouble to surface.

Maryann Murray: My kids definitely go to websites to play games and print out pictures.  They love YouTube videos, but that's about it for us right now. We have helped them save all their "favorites" so that they can go right in and out of them, and we have the parents' block to secure sites and eliminate pop-ups.   

I am starting to get more nervous about the phone Internet access lately. None of our children have their own cellphone, but they use mine to play free games like Angry Birds, and I could be sitting right next to them and they will ask what my card numbers are or just get placed into a pop-up ad. It happens so quickly. It is just so important to talk about Internet safety and keep yourself informed.

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Resources to check out

The following are some websites that offer insight into Internet use and children:

iKeepSafe.org. The Internet Keep Safe Coalition is a partnership of governors, first spouses, attorneys general, public health and educational professionals, law enforcement, and industry leaders working together to maintain the health and safety of youth online.  

North Reading Public Schools kid-safe links. A list of kid-friendly search engines and websites.

Mr. Killeen's Corner. The latest entry in the blog of the Batchelder School principal discusses online communication and monitoring.

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Editor's note: You may have noticed that our Moms Talk Q&A appeared two hours earlier today. Beginning today, this column will now run at 10 a.m. each Wednesday. Combined with our content on other weekdays, 10 a.m. is now your destination for all things parenting in North Reading.