Providing a safe and secure environment for children surfing on the Internet is important for parents. Making sure your young ones do not stumble upon inappropriate content, pornography or violent images is a major concern when this information can be just one click away with a mouse.
There are many options available to provide parental control over Internet content that can be made available to your children. We will start with the basics. Depending on the Internet service provider (ISP) you use, most will supply you with a free security suite that comes with your monthly subscription. This will allow you to filter out most inappropriate content online and some offer filtering by age level. Your best bet would be to contact your ISP for availability.
Internet browsers like Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox browser can also be configured to block content for kids. Internet Explorers parental controls can be found under the tools section of the toolbar in the upper right corner of the browser. By selecting the content tab you can choose from a list of content categories that you might not wish your child to see.
In Firefox you can use add on extensions from the tools section of the toolbar to find content blocking applications. You can search for these add ons from the toolbar which will open up Mozilla's extension web page. These must be installed to your Firefox browser and then you have to restart your browser to activate them. Just search for parental controls from the add ons web page. Some good add ons include, Glubble for families, ProCon, LeechBlock and FoxFilter. Leechblock will allow you to set a time limit for your child's web usage.
For a very high level of child safety content filtering, third party software is available for a monthly subscription or one time cost. These programs will not only block most objectionable content but can also alert you to your child's activity online, provide you with weekly reports on surfing habits and can offer services to help you find the best ways to remove objectionable content. Software is also available to work with iPads and iPhones as well as computers. These programs can be used by families, businesses and churches to provide additional protection. For more information on Internet safety for kids and these high quality programs please visit us from our bio links below.
