Sharing the Family Computer -- Not a good idea

Well, the kids are out of school for the summer and although they have plenty of activities lined up for the summer between swimming, 4-H, summer jobs, family vacation time, an maybe even some summer school, at the end of the day, everyone wants to log in to the family computer to check emails, listen to music or whatever.

Well, if your shared family computer is anything like mine, you have multiple profiles set up so everyone has their own login, personalizations, browser bookmarks/favorites, etc. This works well for your family, right? Or does it?

If you never use your credit or debit cards online, do not do electronic banking or transfer sensitive information over the WorldWideWeb, then this probably works for you.

However, if your kids go online, use social networking, sign up for stuff online a lot (which generates tons of junk mail for them), then it may not be such a great idea. Of course, this would only occur in homes where kids internet usage isn't monitored or where someone may use peer-to-peer networking programs such as Limewire, Kazaa, Morpheus, Napster, etc. to download music, pictures and/or programs or games from other people's computers.

Aside from being illegal, these activities pose a serious risk to the family computer as a high percentage of the files downloaded will contain some serious malware, even trojan horses, worms and other viruses.

The peer-to-peer networking scene is what I call "inviting viruses into your otherwise pristine family computer."

So, how do these activities affect your ability to use your family computer? Some problems that occur are the disabling of your anti-virus software and installation of a Fake Antivirus Software that pops up telling you that you need to purchase the full product to get rid of the infections; or you may get keylogger programs installed on your system that capture your usernames and passwords to places like your bank account, your place of employment, your email, your online services and more.

There is also a high probability that you will get some ad-serving software installed onto your family's shared computer so that you're always dealing with popups on the internet, or there is the distinct possibility that you will lose your internet connectivity altogether. Lastly, there is the possibility that you will get some type of infection that crashes your hard drive and loses your important and personal data, like work-related files, photographs, etc.

If you had your own personal laptop and/or the kids had their own personal school laptops, then your data would be safe and they would have a cool new tool of their own that works for school and home. There is never a problem with "whose time it is to be on the computer." And you could monitor each child's computer and set parameters where you have control over the days and times they could be online, where they could go online, etc.

I welcome your thoughts and experiences on to share or not to share the family computer.

In the meantime, some middle and high schools provide their students with school laptop computers, however, these are in the minority. School laptop computers actually do help with studying and learning by providing your child valuable tools and resources at home and school.

A child's laptop, if properly cared for, can go from middle school through high school. The student can then purchase their own school laptop for the college years.

Just my 2 cents!