How to make your PC child safe for Internet browsing

It’s no secret that children can easily find explicit material on the Web, and if they don't, it often finds them (trust me, I know). The most common error kids make is typing the wrong URL. That can take them to some really nasty sites, with no age-restriction. Sites like these, which count on mistakenly entered URLs, are shut down quickly, but as soon as they are, hundreds more crop up to replace them. And the worst fact to point out is that, honestly, the most popular Web browsers offer little in the way of blocking tools.

Mozilla Firefox offers no content filtering. Microsoft Internet Explorer may have a few tools, but they're weak. To turn on the basic content-filtering utility in IE, follow these steps:

1. Go to Tools > Internet Options > Content, and in the Content Adviser box, select Enable.
2. In the new window, you'll see four categories: Language, Nudity, Sex, and Violence.
3. To enable blocking, move the slider directly below the categories to the lowest level, then click Apply.

A much easier alternative is to download a child-friendly content-filtering Web browser, such as Crayon Crawler, Kid Rocket Kid Safe, or Noah's Web.

TIP: Mac users seeking awesome content controls navigate to BumperCar 2for Mac OS X systems.
 

Restrict what they can use!

 

To ensure that your child can use only the child-friendly browser you install for Internet browsing, create a user account in Windows that prevents installation of new apps.

1. Go to Control Panel > User Accounts and select "Create a new account."
2. In the wizard, enter a name for the new account and select Limited.
3. Next, password-protect any other accounts that aren't Limited.

This still leaves Internet Explorer, however, and since it comes with Windows it can't be uninstalled. To prevent your child from using Internet Explorer, password-protect it. Go to Tools > Internet Options, and select the Content tab. Under Content Advisor, click Enable. On the General tab, locate the Supervisor Password area. Type in a password, then hit Apply.

TIP: You can block other Applications with this method as well.

There you have it, now your kids can go safely wandering through the Web, but remember that their browsing history should always still be monitored. Happy surfing, Cheers, Sam