Curtis writes, "Of all the applications on the Internet, email is the most popular, and perhaps the most important." Therefore he devotes considerable space to covering email functions, etiquette, safety, and problems. An entire chapter deals with unwanted email, citing seven steps to controlling email and ten ways to stop unwanted email.

This guide covers nearly every online activity imaginable and offers useful suggestions for maintaining privacy, security, and safety in every circumstance. Curtis repeatedly mentions how even though your children may know more about computers and the Internet than you do, it’s the parents’ job to determine when, why, and how children make use of these computer skills. Helpful appendices provide free software links, online resources, a glossary, and an index.

Parenting and the Internet is addressed to non-technical adults who may have little or no experience with computers, and goes to great efforts to be clear in describing basic computer and online functions. Even so, some of the instructions for setting up hardware and software (e.g., deleting cookies in Firefox) and adding software to protect privacy (e.g., filter external content in Outlook Express) might make a newbie’s eyes glaze over. (If so, ask your child for help!)