Keeping your computer kiddy friendly

The world today can be a place of perils. Unfortunately, this also holds true for the cyberworld. One of the concerns of parents in the information age, is how to protect their children from the litany of inappropriate material that is circulating out there in cyberspace. Well parents, have no fear. You are not without resources in the information age. There are a few simple low tech and high tech things that you can do to aid you in this matter.

The first thing that I would suggest is to put the clock on them. You can designate time specifically for computer use. This way you know when your children are on the computer and Internet. It will also help them with time management when they have school projects to complete. The next thing that I would suggest is to place the computer in a central location. The ideal location would be in a family room, living room, or den. Any room that the family traffics frequently will suffice. It’s easier to keep an eye on your children’s' Internet activities if they aren't surfing the net in their room with the door closed. Also, place the computer monitor so that it can be easily seen from the doorway. This bit of environmental engineering will probably make your child less likely to venture into forbidden websites if he or she doesn’t know if someone could catch a glance of their web activity.

You can also check the “History” file in your web browser. The History file will show you a list of the recently visited websites. For example, if you are using Internet Explorer, you can look at the history file by first clicking the “View” option in the top left corner of the browser. You then would want to select “Explorer Bar” and then “History”. You can actually set the History file to keep the log of websites from anything from to a day to a week or more. The drawback to this is that you can delete log entries, but it is still a worthwhile option. Most Windows operating systems allow you place a password protection over your system. This allows you to control the access to the Internet. You can set your login password by following the start menu to the control panel and then clicking the passwords icon. Another option is of course commercial software. There is a plethora of web monitoring and desktop monitoring software on the market. This software is usually a keystroke logger in nature. They record the keystrokes a person makes while online or offline. More and more business’ are using these types of software because of its’ effective and clandestine nature.

The suggestions that I have listed range from the subtle to the invasive and free to expensive. Between my suggestions and your own creativity, you should be able to find the right comfort level that allows you to protect your children from predatory chatters and websites alike.