Safeguarding Your Children Online (part 1 Of 3)

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Parental Controls over Internet Content

Kids rely more and more on Internet access to complete their school work, join in multiplayer games and keep in contact with their friends. As a parent you are going to want to know that their use of computers, and especially the Internet, is safeguarded.

As a browser is necessary to view web pages, most of the parental controls are concentrated within browser settings, but there are plenty of safeguards that can be configured into the Windows operating system.

Windows
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From Windows 98 onwards (2000, ME, XP, Vista and 7) much has been made to make the operating software more secure, mainly from attack via malicious software, but also from a child safety point of view. Always make sure that the Windows Firewall is turned on - it is your first line of defense against malicious software. Make sure you have a good anti-virus software package (and keep it current!). Many brands, such as Norton and Kaspersky, have built-in parental control systems and cover incoming emails as well as Internet page content.

While checking that the firewall is on (start > control panel > security center) click 'Internet options' and click the security tab and set the security level to 'Medium - High'. Then click the 'Content' tab and click the 'enabled' button on the Content Advisor. You will see that you can set the security rating for web pages containing any of the following content:

Content that creates fear or intimidation

Content that sets a bad example for children

Depiction of alcohol use

Depiction of drug use

Depiction of gambling

Depiction of tobacco use

Depiction of weapon use

Incitement/depiction of discrimination or harm

Foul language

Nudity

Sexual material

User-generated content (blogs, forums and social networking sites)

Violence

You can then set up a password which will give you control over the pages that any browser will display. If blocked content is found by the browser, the parent has an opportunity to censor it before it loads the page. The list is compiled by ICRA (formerly the Internet Content Rating Association) which is part of the Family Online Safety Institute, an international, non-profit organization working to make the Internet a safer place for kids and adults alike. Choice, not censorship best describes their philosophy. The ICRA and Family Online Institute label websites using the Resource Description Framework (RDF) as defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). You will have noticed websites displaying the W3C logo and you can take this as a sign that the content of that website has been carefully scrutinized for content.

More information on ICRA can be found at http://www.icra.org and the Family Online Safety Institute can be found at http://www.fosi.org.

Before moving on to the parental controls afforded to you by the many Internet Browsers available, it is worth looking at the home computer to see whether it contains any content or images you might view as inappropriate for your kids. If so, you might consider setting the kids up as a separate user on the computer and controlling access to the 'adult' folders with a password.

However, if you visit ICRA or Family Online Safety Institute you will see that they are both promoting an excellent free tool bar add-in for Internet Explorer called Parental Control Bar (found here http://www.wraac.org) which only works on computers with a single user. In this case you may have to consider either a separate computer for the children or removing inappropriate content from the family computer altogether.

by: Hannah McCarthy

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