The Internet can be a great place for kids. They can play games, chat with friends, and do research on just about any topic they might have an interest in. Unfortunately the internet can also be a breeding ground for pestilence and vulgarity the likes of which you would never want your children exposed to. It is my intention in this paper to help parents protect their children from the pitfalls of the internet, subsequently making the internet a tool that the whole family can use and enjoy.
Would you let your children play in a neighborhood surrounded by adult book stores, where predators skulked in every shadow? Of course not, but that is exactly what we do every time we let our children surf the web unprotected. According to Enough.org, “79% of youth(s) unwanted exposure to pornography occurs in the home.” moreover, “there are over 644,865 registered sex offenders in the United States, and over 100,000 are lost in the system.” (Hughes) While these statistics are frightening, the good news is protecting your children online can be accomplished with the aid of the parental controls already installed on most home computers, some inexpensive software, and some common sense parental advice.
If you own a Mac with OS X, or a Windows computer with Vista or Windows 7 installed, you already have a full suite of effective parental controls at your fingertips. The first thing you will want to do is access your control panel and password protect your administrator's account. Secondly activate parental controls on the guest account. In addition you can always create individual accounts for your children if you wish. Once parental controls have been activated, you will have the power to restrict access to only the sites you deem appropriate. In addition you can impose time restrictions on when computer usage will be allowed, and even generate reports monitoring all activity generated by your children. Detailed instructions are only a click away at the Microsoft and Apple homepages, or just do a search in the Help and Support section of your computer.
If your computer is running an older operating system, there are a variety of programs available online that can give you the same level of protection for very little money. Cyberpatrol (cyberpatrol.com), Safe Eyes (safeeyes.com), and Ishield (guardwareinc.com) are some great software options that include all the parental controls included in the newer versions of Windows and Apple, while adding some additional features such as Instant Messaging and Email filtering. Recently Guardware released Ishield 2.0, this newer version uses a complex algorithm involving skin tones, textures, limb positions, and more, in attempts to cover up porn and only porn. (Rubenking, 2008)
Now that your children are using the computer regularly, it is important that you are even more vigilant about your personal computer's security. You should take care to have both spyware and antivirus software installed on your computer. Additionally make sure if your software has an automatic update option that you turn it on. Your software needs the most recent definition files available to safeguard it from the newest threats on the internet. Most importantly you need to do full backups of your computer regularly. The sad news is that some of the most malicious viruses and spyware programs on the internet are attached to links and emails cleverly disguised as benign advertisements, purposely designed to take advantage of the natural curiosity of children.
As a parent there are a few common sense things you can do to help protect your children at home. Here is a great list from nationalcoalition.org:
Internet security will never be 100% effective; as a result it is very important that you be prepared for the inevitable. It is important that your children know to never give out information such as their name, address, phone numbers, or the school they attend to strangers. It is important that your children are comfortable enough to come and get you if they come across anything on the Internet that makes them feel uncomfortable or scared. In this day and age children can access the internet on cell phones, their friend's houses, and on game consoles just as easily as on their home computer. So when the day comes that your child needs your guidance and understanding, please just remember be to patient and be prepared.
