Technology I use 14 Jun 2008 07:45 am

Children and the Internet

children.jpgThe internet generation is here and many children from as young as about three years are spending more and more time online. This holds both risks and benefits and so needs to be carefully managed so that children are protected from the risks while still being permitted to enjoy the benefits of the internet.

The internet holds great possibilities for early childhood education and for teaching children many new things, but what happens when your innocent little four year old accidentally clicks through to a porn or adult-only website?

Fortunately there are ways to ensure that little James stays on Thomas the Tank Engine website and does not mistakenly click through to visit any adult websites while playing around on the internet and this is done with parental control software.

There are some standalone software packages that specialize in parental control and offer various different degrees of security and control but if you have a new Windows Vista computer you could also test the parental control features that come with this new operating system and you may find that they are sufficient in controlling what your child is able to view.

Click here for more links to parental control software

Parental control usually not only allows parents to control what websites their children are allowed to view but can also restrict the amount of time the child spends on the computer, what other programs they are allowed to use and what other functions they can use (e.g. file sharing, chat).

If you would like to know more about parental control and parental control software I recommend the following websites:

http://www.consumersearch.com/

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parental_controls

http://www.takeparentalcontrol.org/

http://www.netalert.gov.au/advice/parental_controls/

http://www.bestsecuritytips.com

http://www.prlog.org/

http://www.surfnetkids.com/safety/parental_control/

Tip: Don’t only rely on software to protect your child from the risks of internet use but develop a good relationship with them and set rules together for internet use.
You might want to consider keeping the computer in a public area where its use can be monitored until children are old enough to understand the risks.

Do you need more help with setting parental controls and protecting your child? Give me a call and I will help you put in place the protection you need for your child and make you feel more secure knowing that the risk to your child is minimized.

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