Internet Usage

Safe Internet Usage

It is almost impossible for any parent to be able to protect their child from any spam email or website that is considered to be offensive. However if you want to ensure safe internet usage whilst your child is online you should consider installing some software which will prevent them from gaining access whether mistakenly or deliberately whilst they are online.

Below we provide some various tools as well as some guidelines which can help to ensure that your child remains safe whilst they are online. The first place any parent should start when looking at allowing their child access to the internet is to look at the ISP (internet service provider) they are using.

Look for those that provide you with built in parental controls such as AOL, Internet Explorer 6 and EarthLink. AOL currently provides you with access to a downloadable program that will help to not just monitor but also limit the amount of time a child spends online. It also provides you with filters in relation to email contacts, instant messaging contacts and the content of particular websites. Plus AOL will regularly provide the parents with a report in email format that has logged their children's activities whilst they have been online.

Whilst if you are using Earthlink this provides you with parental controls as standard and can be found in the toolbar called "Total Protection". This requires no downloading to take place in order for a parent to make use of it. It again limits the amount of time a child can spend online as well as screening any emails that the child receives. Plus it has an internet browser which is extremely safe for children (Kid Safe) to use.

For those parents who have access to Yahoo through AT&T they can again set time limits on the amount of time their child is allowed access to the internet as well as filtering all web searches that their child carries out. If a parent so wishes it provides them with the facility to block a child's access to instant messaging services and other sorts of applications similar to this. Plus it provides the parent with a report which carries information relating to their child's habits when surfing the net and will allow them to specify who it is their child is able to chat with or email whilst online.

Above we have looked at just what ISP's are able to provide in the way of ensuring that your child whilst online is safe. But there are other methods a parent could consider using to ensure that safe internet usage whilst their child is online. They may wish to try one of the various software packages such as NetNanny.