Another scenario where a judge has to step in and be the parent. With taxpayer dollars. His family could have done all that (with exception of the counseling) for FREE — and it sounds like they should have done it a long time ago.

EVERY PARENT with a child of “computer using” age should be monitoring their child — even the good kids. The internet is a dangerous place and it is getting more dangerous every day.

Get the computer OUT of your child’s room. Find a way to be “in the know” about what your child is doing. Be there with them when they are on the computer, talk to them regularly about what they do, and/or buy some monitoring software – the $50-$100 you spend will be worth it. Make sure your child understands what you are doing and why.

Also, go to MySpace regularly and search for your child’s profile as well as references to your child, his/her friends and school.

The time of permissive parenting is over, people! You CAN be a good, loving, fair parent and still be in charge.