Christmas WS's!
Now that we know how much time our kids spend using technology, many of us must ask how we keep our kids safe from all the bad content online? The Internet is fraught with content not intended for the impressionable young mind. So, what can we do to keep out little ones safe when surfing the Net?
Our own search for a safer way was prompted by our daughter. Now eight years old, she’s an expert web surfer. At the click of a button she can find her favorite shows, sites and characters. She hardly has to blink.
Last year, we found her searching using google – unbeknownst to us, they had learned about google in computer studies at school. Alarm bells started ringing and we quick started looking at options.
We found there are three ways to restrict access to the whole Internet – filter, monitor and white list. The only true way to be 100% safe, though, is to white list web sites; but that comes with its own problems, especially for older kids.
Filter and monitor your kids’ access to online content
Let’s start at the beginning – filter. There’s third-party software, such as Spector, as well as programs built into Windows that will filter out bad sites whilst your child searches for content on search engines.
Pretty sophisticated, this software will mostly keep your child away from sensitive content. Although there are still issues with images and video – there’s still no software that can monitor for explicit content for other than words. This may be an option to consider for your older child that needs to search a wider array of topics for schoolwork assignments.
BSecure basically blocks black-listed web sites from your child’s computer and Spector monitors where your child goes on the Net and takes screenshots of those web sites. Both pieces of software keep a track of all domains your child visits.
Hand-pick sites for your children to surf
The only way to guarantee complete safety online is to use software that only allows access to hand-picked sites. Microsoft has a product you can download, called Windows Live Family Safety 2011.
You’ll need a Hotmail account from which you can create a white list. The benefit, we’ve found, in using this software is that you can create this list from any computer (as it’s web-based) and we don’t have to demonstratively keep changing the white list on the computer our daughter uses. Trust me, that white list continues to grow. Once you’ve created your white list, you’ll get regular reports on your child’s online activity.
Happy surfing!
