Keeping Kids Safer Online

A World Wide Web Of Wonder

Kids are curious and when they've got access to the internet, it's only natural that they're going to seek out things to excite and challenge them. After all, the internet is an amazing resource, whether it's to help with researching a homework project, keeping up to date with the latest music and news, or playing games. It's a library, museum, playground and entertainment centre, all rolled into one.

So it would be a shame to prevent them from experiencing all the good that the internet has to offer. But without necessary precautions in place, it's entirely understandable if you feel unsure about allowing your child to go online. There's plenty of unsuitable content on the internet that's freely available and often easy to find. However, you don't need to deny your children access to the internet. It's simply a matter of taking sensible precautions to make sure that they stay safe.

Supervise Your Children Online

Firstly, make sure that your children don't use the internet unsupervised. Place your family computer in the most public area of your home - the living room, kitchen, or wherever it's easiest for you to oversee their computer use and activities. That way you're able to see for yourself what sites they're visiting. Exploring the internet together can be a great way of spending time together. This monitoring isn't the perfect solution, though; and as your kids get older they're likely to want to be able to use the internet without their parents looking over their shoulder at all times.

So, finding a way of keeping them away from unsuitable sites is crucial and there is a way to achieve this that doesn't require you to be hovering nearby at all times. By using a parental controls program, sometimes known as a child internet filter, you can monitor what websites your kids are visiting, and choose what sites they can access.

Using Parental Controls

Importantly, you can set your parental controls program to allow differing amounts of access. By creating an individual user account (or sub account) for each member of your family, you can tailor the level of filtering to an appropriate level. So you could set a nine-year-old child up with a very strict filter, while a teenager can be given a bit more flexibility, and you can have no filters at all. By asking each family member to log on via parental controls before they can access the internet you can quickly and effectively protect your family from unsuitable content on the internet.

In addition, parental controls can record the addresses of the websites that your family members are trying to access, enabling you to see exactly what your child is getting up to online and to determine whether his or her level of access is too lenient. Parental controls can also be used to monitor your child's email, too, if they have their own account.

While monitoring your children in this manner may initially seem as if you don't trust them, think of it this way - you wouldn't feel bad by refusing to let your child explore your local high street unsupervised, would you?