PROTECTING CHILDREN ON THE INTERNET

You should be ready to address Internet issues with your children the same way you would discuss other problematic topics such as drugs, crime, sex and violence. In either case it is up to you when and how to do this, but you should at least be prepared, if not proactive, when the topic comes up.

The Internet itself can link you to myriad resources that address family and child safety concerns. There are alternative sites to use as your browses default home page - sites that review and recommend software that prevents undesirable content from being viewed - and even Internet services that provide a safe and secure browsing and e-mail experience.

Filtering Software

The first line of defense against "bad stuff" getting to your kids while they use the Internet is contentfiltering software programs that you buy and install on your computer. They automatically filter the content coming into your Web browser. Check out www.netnanny.com , www.cyberpatrol.com , www.cybersitter.com and www.kidcontrol.com for their software and tips about Internet content filtering. Because new sites spring up on the Net every day, choose a software package like NetNanny that offers regular updates to their filtered site reference lists. You'll find that CyberSitter has a remote control feature, and Kid Control's ChatNanny has a chat logging feature that lets you spy on your computer's user-activities - it's not exactly privacy-enhancing, but these features could help you intervene to protect your loved ones.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer provides content control under Tools, Internet Options, Content tab. Through it you can configure different levels of graphic and verbal material allowed to be viewed with the browser. It also provides links to content rating services. IE's ratings list can be updated through www.icra.org or www.safesurf.com.