Do you monitor your child's online activity?

TS,
It's, a difficult situation because you're not with him all the time to monitor him. You have talked with him about online saftey and from what you've said on amug, you have a very close relationship (bond) with him, that started from birth. You've done all that you can do, taking the time to talk with him about online safety and keep checking up with him :)
I have a 10 year old son who has a tablet, he uses it to watch youtube videos and play games. My concern is his PS4, its connected to the internet and you have a headset, you can talk/play with people all over the world, people have fake names/aviators, I don't know who he could be playing with, we have talked about online safety, we set up rules of when he can play, and for me it is different because he lives with me all the time. All parents need to monitor their children, remember they are CHILDREN,sometimes parents buy these devices or give these devices to their child to keep the child busy and give the child no rules or talk to them about online safety,you are an excellent dedicated father. 
This post was edited by ally at September 17, 2017 3:46 PM MDT

You can install monitoring apps. I also suggest you read this article: https://williamhenryprince.com/2017/06/23/child-grooming-abduction-a-true-story/ 

In my case, I don't worry so much about what my kids look at. We have a very open household and I expect my kids to be naturally curious about things. I check their histories occasionally and we discuss what they've looked at, but I do it in a very no-fault, no-blame, no-shame, sort of way. I make sure I correct any incorrect information they may have seen and provide healthier tips and outlets. I talk about whatever it may be in a very nonchalant way. Like, when my teen son was using the family PC to view certain things, we talked about how it wasn't appropriate to view things when his younger siblings were around. That was a no-brainer. Later, when he got a PC in his room, we talked about computer safety and how to avoid getting viruses. Obviously, for most parents, that wouldn't be the primary concern, but I'm just using that as a demonstration for how low-key I make the discussions. We transition very smoothly from talking about these sorts of concerns to concerns about what they're viewing. 

With my daughter, I worry more about things like the link above, and about how sensitive she may be to emotionally-charged images. There are body-shaming videos, pro-anorexia sites, pro-suicide sites, people beating each other up. And, so we talk about what drew her to the content, how she thinks the people in the videos felt, what could be done to make the situations right, if she has ever felt emotions like those depicted, and so on. And, we talk about how she can get help if she ever feels that way. Being a digital native, she thinks nothing about leaving comments and reviews on sites. Chatting everywhere is so second-nature, she doesn't even think about it. It's really hard, but I have talked to her about grooming and predators and what they do to gain trust. I also remind her that it's never the fault of the child when these things happen, and that the important thing is to always confide in a safe adult, regardless of what the person may say. She's also well aware of how easy it is to track someone online. We made a game of it the other night, just plugging details from people in Google and seeing what turned up. Naturally, we found addresses, and schools, and all sorts of things for different people. We didn't find her, but she knows it's a matter of time before she appears in the search engines too, and that she really has to be careful not to say anything that can identify her. She's still so little that anything some might consider "adult" that she looks up is really health-related. She does wind up on icky sites sometimes, but it's always because she's researching some kind of natural bodily function, and that gives us an "in" to discuss whatever she has questions about.

Because of this, my kids have never even tried to hide online activity. I never scold them. I just explain how or why some things can be dangerous, and we move on with life. 

The sad fact is, and if you read the article, you'll understand, it doesn't matter anymore if you give your kids a device or try to lock them in a tower and keep them away from technology. They will find it somewhere else. They'll get it at school or from a friend. You can install software or do spot checks, and I think parents should, but at the same time, the most important thing you can ever do is talk to your kids. That is the strongest defense. Should you limit what he sees at home? That's a personal question and each parent has their own set of values. I don't because it lets me see where my kids are at. I know what areas might be trouble because they do it in my home. That doesn't mean I'm going to flip on a violent or sexual flick and watch it with my kids, but I let them be their own beings and try to coach them based on their behaviors. More conservative parents wouldn't. They'd restrict. I think that just makes kids hide things, but that's my personal parenting philosophy, and I know others would disagree.