Parental Control Software
The Benefits of Parental Control Software
The Internet can be an invaluable resource for kids. Kids can use it to communicate with other students and teachers, perform research for school reports, and enjoy interactive games. Once a kid knows how to properly use a computer, he or she has nearly unlimited access to anything.
This sort of access can be very dangerous for kids who do not know how to protect themselves on the internet. Internet safety for kids is vital in order to be aware of just what a kid sees or hears through the internet, what the child share about him or herself, or who he or she may meet.
Websites that are inaccurate, violent, extreme, self-destructive, or not age appropriate are not ideal for young children and should be avoided. A good way to avoid this is to limit computer and time only let a computer be used in public or common areas of the home. Utilizing parental control services can also prevent access to these sites. Another very important point is to discuss what sites are allowed and not allowed, and what to look out for, such as if a site asks for personal information.
Online tools and programs such as parental control software are available that will let a parent control a child’s access to inappropriate material and also protect them from potential internet predators. While parental control software is not enough guarantee that children will entirely avoid the risks of the Internet, it will help significantly reduce the risks of harm.
There are many internet service providers that have parent-control options in order to block inappropriate material from coming into a computer. Parental control software can also help block access to sites based on a list of bad sites that the ISP creates. Parental control software and filtering programs can block sites and restrict personal information from being sent. Other programs can track and monitor online activity.
Some features of parental control software include:
• Block websites of different categories of inappropriate content, such as drugs, pornography, gambling, malware/spyware, violence/hate/racism, phishing.
• Force major search engines to use safe searching.
• Create time restrictions in order to block web access during times designated by a parent.
• Create and configure custom lists for sites that should always be allowed or blocked.
• Override certain web page blocks with password use.
• Provide anti-tampering to the parental control software so children cannot override the software.
• Logs of viewed windows, chat conversations, website visits, application usage, keystrokes typed, screenshots, and online searches.
• Create and view simple reports to control and monitor web activity of a child.
• Constant real-time organization and categorization of newly created adult and malicious sites.
• More parental control software and internet filter access.
