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You have kids, you have a computer with an internet connection,
the two put together = trouble! I don't mean to understate
this point, because when it comes down to it, you, the parents,
are the the one that has to take responsibility for your
children and what they view. I'm generally pretty
harsh on parents that think that nothing can happen on the
internet...while the internet feels "safe" because
it's in your house, what bad thing could happen? Well,
read the newspapers and see what can happen with the "safe"
internet. If you're going to have a net connection
you need to be responsible and make sure your kids are safe
online. So, here are some programs that will help
you monitor what your kids are up to:
iProtectyou -
This is one of the best programs on the net at the moment
to stop your kids from seeing objectionable material and
unmonitored chat and email sessions. This program
is
FREE
so download it. This program allows you to control
which websites your kids are allowed to visit, which programs
can have internet access, blocking email, chat, instant
messages that would have objectionable words in it...it
will also gather information about what your children
are doing online...you can also set up a schedule when
your child can be online. I just can't say how great
of a program this is and if you're a parent and you want
to help your kids be safe, this is the program for you.
It is password protected, so as long as your kids don't
have the password, they can't change the settings.
Really, take responsibility for you children's online
life. If I get enough requests I'll write a tutorial
for this program that will show you the steps for setting
this program up. You can download this program here
http://www.softforyou.com/
We-Blocker
- This is a very effective web filtering tool that will
stop objectionable websites. It has some very nice
features including multiple accounts so you can set up
different settings for different age groups or different
age groups. A very good web filtering tool, I still
like iProtectyou a little more because you can limit access
to certain programs and chatrooms, IM's, and other venues
should be restricted...so this is good if you just want
to filter web pages. You can download this program
at http://www.we-blocker.com/index.php
AOL and MSN, and many
other Internet service providers have some form of internet
blocking and restricted zones you can set so you can limit
the access of your children on the net. It will
limit emails, IM's and things like that...but I think
parents are too often drawn into a false sense of security
with these settings...if you minimize AOL and open a browser
like Mozilla the filters will be gone, and you know those
kids will find ways around simple defenses.
In closing, the best way
to make sure you kids are safe online is to surf with
them...kids, especially young kids, shouldn't be left
on the computer without parental supervision. If
however you can't be with your kids while they surf, please
download iProtectyou and make sure you set it up to block
areas that would be dangerous for them. No matter
how many laws the government passes to protect children,
it will always be up to you, the parent to proactively
protect your children.
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