Providing a safe and secure environment for children surfing online is an important for parents establishing Internet safety rules. Making sure your young ones do not stumble upon inappropriate content, pornography or violent images is a major concern when this information can be just one click away with a mouse.
There are many options available to provide parental control over Internet content that can be made available to your children. We will start with some basic Internet safety tips. Depending on the Internet service provider (ISP) you use, most will supply you with a free security suite that comes with your monthly subscription. This will allow you to filter out most inappropriate content online and some offer filtering by age level. You best bet would be to contact your ISP for availability of these software programs.
Internet browsers like Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Mozilla’s Firefox browser can also be configured to block content and provide Internet safety for kids. Internet Explorers parental controls can be found under the tools section of the toolbar in the upper right corner of the browser. By selecting the content tab you can choose from a list of content categories that you might not wish your child to see.
In Firefox you can use add on extensions from the tools section of the toolbar to find content blocking applications for providing additional Internet safety. You can search for these add ons from the toolbar which will open up Mozilla’s extension web page. These must be installed to your Firefox browser and then you have to restart your browser to activate them. Just search for parental controls from the add ons web page. Some good add ons include, Glubble for families, ProCon, LeechBlock and FoxFilter. Leechblock will allow you to set a time limit for your child’s ability to stay on the Internet. This is a great feature to help strike a balance between real world and online world activities for your children.
For a very high level of Internet child safety content filtering, third party software is available for a monthly subscription or one time cost. These programs will not only block most objectionable content but can also alert you to your child’s activity online, provide you with weekly reports on surfing habits and can offer services to help you find the best ways to remove objectionable content. The added protection provided by these third party safety software programs can greatly increase a parents peace of mind and provide additional Internet safety for kids. Families with working parents, which is most of us, can rest easier at those times when your work schedule does not allow you to be at home to monitor your child’s online activities.
Safe Eyes software is also available to work with iPod touch and iPhones as well as PC’s and Macs. Routers are also available for larger network protection. These programs can be used by families, businesses and churches to provide additional protection. Flexible content controls allows you to select the types of website that are appropriate and control the amount of time spent online, and the times when the internet is available. You can be notified instantly via email, text message, or phone call when someone visits inappropriate websites.
There are many different types of websites that can be potentially harmful to children. With 35 categories, their parental control software gives you the ability and flexibility to fine tune access to websites and ensure that harmful content is blocked.
Safetyweb provides an excellent monthly service for online protection with a free safety report. By providing them with your children’s email addresses they can monitor your child’s online activity and report back to you with alerts to any suspicious activity. They provide 24 hour access to monitor your child’s surfing habits, online posting, photos and information that may lead to trouble. There service allows you to keep tabs on your child or teens online world and help you to stay informed and take action if needed. To help educate your child to Internet safety we also recommend you watch our video, Internet Safety Rules! for a fun light-hearted visual learning aid to help instill Internet safety rules with your kids.
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