It would be easy to let your child use the Internet as he or she wants;
mistakenly thinking that no harm could essentially come out of it. The
Internet is, after all, just a medium through which we can buy things,
find out information and play games. Put like this, there seems to be
little need to restrict our children's use of the Internet with an
Internet filter, especially considering that there are so many other
things they need protecting from first.
Some parents like to give their children as much freedom as possible;
encouraging them to be responsible for their own decisions and the
consequences of their actions. There is however, a limit for any
parent, and at this point they start to exercise their parental right
to restrict their child's activities for his or her own protection.
parents find out about the possible problems that the Internet can
cause their children, and also quite how flexible Internet filters can
be, they very often decide to exercise their parental rights, and turn
to such software for help.
Parents should be aware about the issues relating to Internet safety
and child protection. does not need to get sensationalist to make
parents consider installing an Internet filter onto their home
computer. With a bit of research on the Internet; parents can find out
all sorts of useful information about the troubles that the Internet
can potentially cause children. Some of this might come as a surprise
to some parents, and those that previous have not considered it
necessary to restrict their child's access to the net might well decide
that there is a need for it after all.
of the primary, and most simple issue concerning your child's use
of the Internet, is the shear amount of time that he or she spends on
it. Children today spend an ever increasing proportion of their spare
time behind the computer, more often than not surfing the web. Whilst
in moderation this is not intrinsically a problem, in excess it can be
hazardous for the child's all round mental and physical development. It
is simply not what children are meant to do; sitting behind a computer
for hours on end, instead of playing games that involve movement and
socializing.
Another important issue is the material that children have access to
over the Internet. Without the kind of control and protection that an
Internet filter provides; a child can stumble across images and texts
that almost every parent in the world will agree are not suitable for
children. This problem is compounded by the fact that many of these
inappropriate sites appear of their own accord, and then can be quite
hard to get rid of.
No less big an issue (and potentially the most disastrous), derives
from the opportunity the Internet gives to children to chat anonymously
to anyone who has access to the web. This is possible through a variety
of mediums, such as chat sites, messengers and blog sites. Whilst most
of the people your child will talk to will be of a benelovent nature,
there are a large number of people who use chat sites specifically to
make contact with children, whilst pretending to be youngsters
themselves, and then use this position to extract private information
out of them. Sometimes they use the sites to flirt and play sexual
games, and even sometimes to 'groom' children with the view of setting
up a meeting. Unfortunately, these people are often very adept at
blending into chat groups, making it very hard for your children to
differentiate between them and genuine children.
There are some people who think that Internet filters are just for
religious types or overbearing parents, but that is really not true.
They are in fact purchased by every layer of society; by people with a
wide range of views, attitudes and moral standpoints. The reason why
Internet filters are so popular amongst so many people, is because the
degree of restriction that they bring to your computer and your child's
use of the Internet can be completely customized to suit your needs.
Internet filters are indeed very flexible.
Internet filtering software enables you to set the level of restriction
that you want for your child (which will be based on your views, the
age of your child and so on).
You can, for instance, set your Internet filter so that your child can
only use the net for a small period of time a day, and only has access
to a few websites that you have specially selected. the other end of
the spectrum, however, you can give your child much longer access to
the Internet each day, and let them have access to all sites except for
a couple of specific websites that you have deemed inappropriate
(perhaps, for instance, because your children spend far too much time
on those sites).
Internet filters can help you to significantly reduce the risks of your
children experiencing the problems as described above. With an Internet
filter installed on your computer, you can fine tune how your computer
is used, and keep it at a level of restriction suitable for you.
You can set how long your child can use the Internet each day, which
sites he or she can access, which chat programs can be accessed and
much more. Importantly, such programs enable you to set different
levels of restriction for different users. This means that you can set
up the restrictions according to the level of protection that you want
to give each of your children; according to their age and their needs.
There are many filters on the market and the best you can do is search
though the websites and choose for yourself. Some of the most popular
ones are iProtectYou at http://www.softforyou.com, and NetNanny.
My child spends a lot of time surfing the net, and until recently I had
no idea what he was looking at. Unfortunately though, I recently found
out (by looking at the viewed web sites list) that my young son has
been using the home computer to look at pornographic sites. This
obviously has caused lots of consternation, and its not the sort of
thing that I was just going to sweep under the carpet. The problem was
that it was hard porn, and I really don't want him to be watching that
stuff at his age (13) With a little investigation, it turned out that
almost all of the time he was on the computer was spent looking at
porn. All this time I thought he was just innocently searching the
Internet, or doing his homework.
I'm not the only parent in the area who has had such problems with
their children.
In fact, in a study by the London School of Economics, it was shown
that 9 out of 10 children between the ages of 8 and 16 have accessed
pornography on the Internet. Protecting children from these pornography
sites is a challenge that all parents that I know are aware of.
Everyone has their own methods; such as keeping the computer in a place
where the parents can see what their children are viewing. The solution
however that many parents have employed to keep their children from
looking at porn; at least from the home computer, has been to purchase
one of the many commercially available Internet filtering programs.
There are seemingly 100's of such programs on the Internet, and I've
heard feedback about quite a few of them.
of these, the most well-received of all the programs that I came
across is called iProtectYou. I henceforth decided to purchase it not
long ago, and I am extremely satisfied with its performance.
It has a huge inbuilt database of bad sites, and by turning that on my
child was instantly denied access to the sort of sites that bother me;
namely pornographic sites. There were also a small of specific sites
that I wanted to be blocked that weren't in that database (because they
aren't intrinsically bad sites; he just spends much to much time on
them), and I was able to block them separately.
With this program I have found that I can leave my child to surf the
Internet, and know that he is doing it to his educational and
developmental gain. I see other kids at home who surf the net for hours
and hours and constantly come across sites and pop ups that are wholly
unsuitable for them at their age. I've been telling other parents about
the advantages of such software, and more and more of my friends have
bought it, whilst others are still skeptical for some reason. Its
available at softforyou.com

13 Sep 2006, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.security, in article
<1158156878.717506.156810@e63g2000cwd.googlegroups. com>, jon wrote:

parents find out about the possible problems that the Internet can
>cause their children, and also quite how flexible Internet filters can
>be, they very often decide to exercise their parental rights, and turn
>to such software for help.

because they have no parenting skills, and the only reason they have children
is that they didn't know what they were doing then either.

>Another important issue is the material that children have access to
>over the Internet. Without the kind of control and protection that an
>Internet filter provides; a child can stumble across images and texts
>that almost every parent in the world will agree are not suitable for
>children.

who haven't received the slightest training of any consequence from the
parents who think that a magic bullet will do all the hard work for them.

>This problem is compounded by the fact that many of these inappropriate
>sites appear of their own accord, and then can be quite hard to get rid of.

This occurs because the parents haven't the first clue of what the Internet
is, how it operates, and why they themselves shouldn't be using a computer.
Those little helper thingies you install so that you can get to your
favorite pr0n site work for your children as well.

>No less big an issue (and potentially the most disastrous), derives
>from the opportunity the Internet gives to children to chat anonymously
>to anyone who has access to the web.

Parental supervision - a concept unknown to many.

>There are some people who think that Internet filters are just for
>religious types or overbearing parents, but that is really not true.
>They are in fact purchased by every layer of society; by people with a
>wide range of views, attitudes and moral standpoints.

and a total lack of parenting skills. They hope that the filters will
substitute for their own lack of interest in their children, and fail
to understand that they are usually easy to bypass - what? You don't
think children talk to each other? My, you must have forgotten your
own youth, or your social skills then were such that you had no friends.

>My child spends a lot of time surfing the net, and until recently I had
>no idea what he was looking at.

This happens to people who don't care about their children.

>Unfortunately though, I recently found out (by looking at the viewed web
>sites list) that my young son has been using the home computer to look
>at pornographic sites.

wonders how you finally discovered that fact.

>With a little investigation, it turned out that almost all of the time he
>was on the computer was spent looking at porn. All this time I thought he
>was just innocently searching the Internet, or doing his homework.

Yes, you are to st00pid to bother to train your child, and don't give a
care to what he was doing. You are the one contributing to the downfall
of the child.

>Protecting children from these pornography sites is a challenge that all
>parents that I know are aware of.

but you didn't want to waste your own time working with your child to
learn good and evil. Talk to the child? Why? You wouldn't even know
where to start. Do you even know your child's name? Do you have any
idea where the child is now? Didn't think so.

of these, the most well-received of all the programs that I came
>across is called iSPAMforU

>It has a huge inbuilt database of bad sites, and by turning that on my
>child was instantly denied access to the sort of sites that bother me;
>namely pornographic sites.

How would you know? You don't bother being around when your child is
surfing - so you have no idea how the child bypassed this piece of crap.

>NNTP-Posting-Host: 193.23.122.114

inetnum: 193.23.122.0 - 193.23.122.255
netname: FARVATER-NET
org-name: Farvater Ltd
address: 21 Polupanova str
address: Kiev
address: UA

I must say, your English is pretty good for a Ukrainian - but then you
are more likely the author of this spyware, posting through an open relay,
and you don't have any children because you are to busy surfing the pr0n
sites and those of the opposite sex find you repulsive. What's new?

guy

Moe Trin wrote:
13 Sep 2006, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.security, in article
<1158156878.717506.156810@e63g2000cwd.googlegroups. com>, jon wrote:
--
[]

guy

While I agree that the eloquently written article was certainly an ad,
and definitely out of place in this newsgroup, I rather resent some of
the response.

In giving such a general response, you put down any parent looking for
technical aids to limit their children's access to the internet, and
more importantly, limiting other internet users' access to their
children. I strongly disagree with the implied statement that any parent
looking for such aid has failed in parenting. (I sincerely hope I
misunderstood you.)

Those who don't care or don't think there's a danger, on the other hand,
are in grave danger of failing the task.

When I lock the door at night, it's partly to keep my kids in, but more
importantly, it helps keep the bad elements out. And just for the
record, my kids know how to operate a doorlock, as well as other barriers

Tue, 19 Sep 2006, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.security, in article
<450f2c4f@news.broadpark.no>, Keme wrote:
>Moe Trin wrote:
>13 Sep 2006, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.security, in article
><1158156878.717506.156810@e63g2000cwd.googlegroups. com>, jon wrote:

>While I agree that the eloquently written article was certainly an ad,

Most professionally written advertisements are eloquent. The also bend the
facts to suit the product they are flogging, and unless required by law
would never hint at conflicting data much less discuss it. Standard answer
is that they are paying to put their point across, and they can not see
any need to advertise anything that would reduce their take.

>and definitely out of place in this newsgroup, I rather resent some of
>the response.
>
>In giving such a general response, you put down any parent looking for
>technical aids to limit their children's access to the internet, and
>more importantly, limiting other internet users' access to their
>children.

Read it again - the klown was advertising this "product" as a substitute
for parenting.

With an Internet filter installed on your computer, you can fine tune
how your computer is used, and keep it at a level of restriction
suitable for you. You can set how long your child can use the Internet
each day, which sites he or she can access, which chat programs can be
accessed and much more.

Everyone wants simple, work-free solutions - just take this pill, and you
will loose all that excess weight (with no need to exercise or stop eating
all those fattening foods). The most obvious place where this concept
falls apart is that (strangely) your computer isn't the only one in the
world that your child has access to. What a strange concept.

>I strongly disagree with the implied statement that any parent looking
>for such aid has failed in parenting. (I sincerely hope I misunderstood
>you.)

Parents who look at network filters as the magical solution to all their
problems of raising their children _are_ failing. Such filters _might_
reduce the number of accidental exposures occurring at this computer, but
are no substitute for one-on-one training so that the kid knows WHY some
sites are unsuitable.

>Those who don't care or don't think there's a danger, on the other hand,
>are in grave danger of failing the task.

My child spends a lot of time surfing the net, and until recently I had
no idea what he was looking at. Unfortunately though, I recently found
out (by looking at the viewed web sites list) that my young son has
been using the home computer to look at pornographic sites.

That klown has N interest in what his child is doing. NNE. And just
as obviously, there has never been any training of WHY some sites are
dangerous, bad or otherwise unsuitable.

>When I lock the door at night, it's partly to keep my kids in,

Don't they obey you?

>And just for the record, my kids know how to operate a doorlock, as well
>as other barriers

That's the other main failing in these filters. St00pid parent installs them
and thinks that they have solved the problem of Internet Pr0n and similar
risks, and also have no idea that the filters are trivial to bypass because
they have no desire to know anything about their computer, and "out of sight,
out of mind". The child on the other hand is spending LTS of time looking
at the computer, and their friends are explaining the key sequence to block
the blocker. But even if the parents are computer wizards who can set up
the computer so that bypassing is difficult, the kid merely has to go
next-door, or down the street.

Teach the child, rather than putting up artificial (and easily bypassed)
barriers and _hoping_ that the problem will go away.

guy