By Rick Beichler

The statistics are shocking. A recent study on children’s exposure to undesirable elements on the Internet showed that the average age of a child’s first Internet exposure is 11 years old, with 90% of children between the ages of 8-16 years old having viewed inappropriate content online, mostly while doing homework. This same study also showed that the largest consumer of inappropriate internet content are children in the 12-17 age group, while 80% of our 15- to 17-year-olds have had multiple extreme exposures (Family Safe Media, December 2005). Other studies have shown that initial exposure often occurs accidentally while our children use one of the basic building blocks of the Internet: search engines. Hoping to improve the chances of their website being found in as many search results as possible, undesirable sites have been known to link their pages with cartoon characters.

Free Filtering and Monitoring Tools are Available

The only guarantee available for eliminating 100% of access to undesirable internet content from your home computer is to pull out the power cord and hide it. But the internet is a very valuable research tool that can deliver a wealth of quality information, and measures like these would rob our children of an incredibly large amount of educational content. There are two ways available that can offer protection to our children from exposure to internet undesirables: filtering and monitoring.

Filtering software simply limits the type of content that can be viewed by your home web browser. Many base their filters on known inapprorpriate content sites, or specific words, and this type of filter can actually provide too much suppression (limiting educational, or non inappropriate content sites due to word content).

Monitoring software will track how your computer is being used. Usually keystrokes are recorded, along with programs that are being run, and websites that are being visited.

Monitoring software does not block access to internet content, but simply records what is being accessed. Monitoring software allows a parent to simply keep their children’s Internet usage on track, while allowing the children to practice good decision-making skills at an early age. Free software tools that logs all computer activities, including websites being visited (www.download.com, search for ‘PC Spy for the latest available software).

There are many software tools available for parental filtering. There can really be no assurances that you will be comfortable with the way either operate. Before installing any software on your computer, you should always do as much research as possible for other alternatives available, and make an informed decision before making your choice. Whether or not you decide to try these tools, or go with others, you can be assured that there are ways available today to protect your children while they use the Internet.