Children use the internet to do research for school papers and projects, stay in touch with friends through e-mail or play games with other children all over the world. There are endless possibilities for education and entertainment for kids looking for ways to occupy their time. Many of these options are safe, productive ways to spend time; however other options are not only bad but probably dangerous ways for children to amuse themselves.
Internet filtering is available to helps parents protect their children in several ways. As filtering software programs are flexible, they offer many options and levels of protection. Internet filtering can block pornographic sites and sites with inappropriate language; it can also keep children from online predators.
Internet filters are flexible and adjustable
Many parents feel that internet filtering will be too restrictive; however, it’s actually a strong but very flexible way to keep children safe online. It can be set to different levels to restrict certain things, depending on parents’ views and the child’s age. Internet filtering can be as strict as only allowing children to go to a couple of select websites or as lax as allowing children to view just about any site, except for the few that a parent has deemed inappropriate.
Internet filters can block pornographic sites
Children can easily happen upon pornographic sites on the internet accidentally; these websites are very harmful to children. Internet filtering can block pornographic sites by using an address filter or a word filter, either using a default list or a list created by the parents; porn sites can also be filtered out using a bad site list, which parents can to if they so desire. Since internet filters use multiple methods to block pornographic sites, they usually do an excellent job of keeping children safe from porn.
Internet filters can block websites containing inappropriate language
There are millions and millions of websites that contain language inappropriate for children. Even if a parent were to be in the same room as their child when they are using the internet, the parent would not be able to tell if a site contains inappropriate words unless they were reading it. Internet filtering can block websites that contain language that should not be read by young eyes.
Internet filters can protect children from online predators
Children love to use the internet to chat with their friends or make new friends. There are many chat rooms available on the internet to assist children in keeping in touch with or meet other children. However, the kids that children are chatting with may not be children at all; all too often today, these ‘children’ are online sexual predators waiting for a child willing to give them personal information. This danger is real but internet filtering can help by blocking access to certain chat rooms which helps keep children safe by keeping them away from online predators.
There are a lot of ways in which parents can protect their children from the hazards found on the World Wide Web. Parents should place the family computer in a central location that gets heavy household traffic, such as the kitchen or living room. Parents should also set up rules for internet use which include letting their children know which sites are appropriate and which are not. As good as these in-home methods might be, they should be used in addition to installing an internet filter on their computer.