Parental Controls

Although as parents we do our best to protect what our children see and hear – we cannot always succeed 100%. This is why it is important to implement software in conjunction with family rules in order to aide us in protecting what our children see and hear and read. Surfing the internet is not inherently safe. Even innocent websites sometimes have advertisers with risqué banners, pop-ups, and inappropriate language. As the software gets better at protecting our children – the consumer and adult industries get more creative. The “adult” industry is going to be implementing additional tactics to increase their revenues through more creative means.


Things You Can Do

1. Maintain a good virus scanner and keep it up-to-date.
2. Have Spyware and Adware programs installed and keep them up-to-date (often included in most virus protection suites)
3. Install and configure Parental Control software (some of which contains spyware and adware protection)
4. Keep computers in a family area. No computers in bedrooms on the internet.
5. Limit or prevent TXT messaging. You can monitor the number of TXT messages sent/received through your carrier. Multiple the number of messages by 20 and divide by 60 to get the number of minutes a child is spending texting.
   Limit or prevent PIX messaging. Friends of kids, who may have less strict access to the internet can take snapshots and send pics
6. Monitor TXT messaging. This can be done through many provider websites. You can also review the TXT messages sent on the phone. It is recommended that prior to giving anyone a phone with TXT messaging (and all of them come with it by default), that you have an agreement that there is no privacy when it comes to those messages and that periodic checking may be done.
7. Don’t allow the cell phone in their room. Late night messages and calls can wake or keep them awake.
8. Configure your Firewall (typically comes with your software) for added intrusion detection.
9. If you are using a wireless network, make sure it is using Wireless Access Protection (WAP/WPA, etc.) which requires an ID and a password to gain access to the network.
10. Configure your parental controls to “lock-out” times when internet access is not appropriate.

Parental Control Software Research
Here are some links for researching parental control software.

• http://www.consumersearch.com/parental-control-software
• http://top-parental-control-software.com/

Parental Control Software
Windows:

• AT&T U-Verse Parental controls. Provided free to AT&T internet consumers.
• bSafe. A well-rated parental control software.
• CyberPatrol. A well-rated parental control software.
• Safe Eyes. A well-rated parental control software.
• Net Nanny. A well-rated parental control software.
• Windows Vista Parental Controls. Windows Vista comes with good parental controls.
• AOL Parental Controls. Provided free to AOL internet consumers.

MAC:

• Max OS X Parental Controls. Built-in parental control software for MAC OS X leopard.
• Safe Eyes. A well-rated parental control software.