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Being a parent in the twenty first century is no easy task. In addition to all of the other problems plaguing parents of teens and tweens, today’s parents have to deal with the dangers of the Internet. This requires regularly staying aware of the threats, risks and problem areas that exist online. Parents need the right tools to assist them in monitoring their children’s Internet activity and making sure that their kids are safe online. Unfortunately, figuring out which tools are the most effective can be just as complicated as identifying emerging threats in the ever-changing lives of our teens.
The smart parent will read up on the options that are available to them to assist their children in engaging in safe Internet use. Following you’ll find reviews of some of the best software available for parents to monitor and control their children’s online activity. All of these software programs are available for download online so that the parent can begin using them immediately. It’s never too soon to make things safer for your kids! And since we all know that parents must balance their need for this technology with their need to stick to a family budget, many of these software downloads are free.
The Purpose of Parental Control Software
Before you can know what to look for in a parental control software program, you’ll need to gain an understanding of what these programs are all about. Parental control software is designed to give parents control over what their children can access on the Internet. At a basic level, all parental control software will block certain websites from being accessible on the computer (porn being the most obvious example). This software also provides the parent with tools which track online activity. This is useful for checking up on your children’s instant message conversations or web browsing history. Being aware of what’s going on with your kids is crucial to protecting them from the dangers of the world.
Here are some of the features that you’ll want to look at when trying to determine which parental control software is right for your home:
- Cost - When it boils down to it, you have to make smart purchases that don’t waste your money. There are many free software programs out there which won’t require you to pay anything to keep your family safe. If you find that those aren’t the right programs for you, you’ll want to make sure that you choose a software program that offers a free trial download so that you can test it out before you invest in the purchase.
- Ease of use - Most parents these days are fairly computer savvy but that doesn’t mean that they know how to use complicated Internet commands. You need to make sure that you get a simple program with a friendly user interface that will allow for easy use. This software is supposed to make your life simpler, not more complicated!
- Flexibility - You want a software program that will allow you to change settings rather than coming with a pre-set block. There may be some websites that you’re comfortable with your kids seeing so you need to be able to select that as an option rather than being locked into pre-set rules for what can and can’t be accessed on the computer.
- Multi-user options - Most families share their computers in the home. Because of this, you’ll want to choose a software program that lets you select different blocking options for different family users. These generally rely on a basic password system.
- Reputation - Software that has received positive reviews from reputable sources is the best software to choose for your home. Word-of-mouth from other parents that you know is also a good indicator that the software works.
- Scheduling functions - Many parental control software programs will actually let you schedule time limits and specific blocks of time for your children to be blocked from the Internet. This allows you to keep web use under control even when you can’t be around to watch.
Top Parental Control Software Downloads
Net Nanny
Net Nanny. If you’ve ever considered using parental control software in the past, the one name that came to mind was probably Net Nanny. This product was the first Internet filter ever created for use by consumers. It was released to the market in 1994 and has been setting the standard for parental control software ever since. Updates are regularly released in order to help parents stay on top of new problems that face their children online.
If you don’t do any tweaking to Net Nanny, it will start filtering your Internet content based on pre-set information. It has eight different categories of websites that are identified as dangerous and are blocked. It also automatically records all online activity such as web browsing and instant messaging so that you can go back and take a look at anything that’s been done on the computer. The real benefit to this program, though, is that it is highly flexible to the varying needs of different families. These pre-set items can be altered and different levels of tracking can be assigned to different computers. This is useful if you want to see which of your children is engaging in different behavior online. It’s also useful if you want to block your kids from certain websites but leave them open for you to use.
With 31 different categories to choose from (including such items as illegal activities, personal ads, games and drugs), you can easily block the things that are most dangerous to your child’s specific situation and interests. The program has a terrific little feature that lets kids easily send you an “override request” when Net Nanny blocks something that they think you should let them see. This allows you to check out what your kids want to see online. It is also a great tool for opening up conversations about the questionable content that your kids are taking an interest in.
Finally, Net Nanny has the ability to outsmart your teen when he/she tries to get around the controls on the site. In comparison with many other parental control software programs, this one is really designed for the web-savvy teen who knows all of the different tricks for outsmarting a computer program. It can cut off Internet connections at the protocol level when it finds teens trying to use different passwords and identities to get around the blocks. This makes it the best software out there for parents of technologically advanced teens.
Of course, to get all of the benefits of this stellar parental control software, you’re going to have to shell out some money. The cost of this software is currently $39.99. That’s a higher price than many of the other software programs out there but it’s a small price to pay for all of the perks of this time-tested system.
K9 Web Protection
K9 Web Protection. For those parents who aren’t able to shell out $40 for a software program, the best free alternative on the Internet is K9 Web Protection. It offers all of the same basic features as Net Nanny and even seems superior to Net Nanny in some ways. The one area where it is lacking in comparison with Net Nanny is that it only blocks website and doesn’t have chat blocking functions like those available through Net Nanny. As a result, it is the kind of software that could be outsmarted by a web savvy teen but it provides a lot of security for parents who are interested in monitoring the general activity of their children online.
K9 is strikingly similar to Net Nanny in many significant ways. It has a category system that is even more detailed than that offered by Net Nanny which allows parents to choose from sixty different categories for blocking websites. You can choose to custom select from these or to choose from high, default, moderate or minimal monitoring settings. K9 Web protection also has a web activity monitoring system which will show parents which websites were blocked as well as which websites were accessed by the teen. It features many of the same multi-user settings as Net Nanny. However, it doesn’t track chat conversations so it’s not the right program for everyone.
Free Shield
Free Shield. Another popular free alternative to Net Nanny is Free Shield. This is a comprehensive parental control software program which allows parents to make blocking choices like the other programs. Its major drawbacks are that it’s a toolbar-based system and that it isn’t quite as advanced as Net Nanny in terms of being capable of outsmarting your teens. However, it has the added benefit of serving the dual purpose of not only monitoring activity but also acting as a security program for your computer.
In terms of website filtering, Free Shield focuses primarily on blocking children from seeing porn. However, it allows parents to set and alter filters using a setup wizard. The setup is easy to use and allows you to block all of the basic things that you might not want your children getting into, although it doesn’t cover as many varieties of categories as Net Nanny does. On the negative side, it does not have an efficient tool for monitoring and tracking your child’s online activity (such as IM conversations). It does, however, let you block specific URL’s such as chat sites that you find your child on.
An important goal of this service is to not only to block and monitor children’s activity but also to block pop-ups and erase identifying information (like cookies) in order to reduce the overall threat of the Internet for families. However, there’s a major drawback in that this is a toolbar which remains on your screen and which itself has advertisements on it which can be annoying. This is the price that you pay for choosing free software, a price that many parents find to be worth it considering the benefits of the service.
Parental Control Bar
Parental Control Bar. This is one of the simplest parental control software downloads available. Like Free Shield, it’s just a basic toolbar that you download on to your computer to block and monitor web activity. However, its user interface is much simpler to understand. The downside of this is that web savvy teens may be able to outsmart it. However, for the basic services that you’d be seeking in a parental control program, this may be satisfactory.
The best feature about this toolbar is that it makes it really easy for you to understand what’s going on with your monitoring. It allows you to flip back and forth between “child mode” and “parent mode” just by clicking a button on the toolbar and entering a password. This means you can easily browse without being blocked and then reset the mode when your kids are online. It also lets you add safe websites or websites to block with an easy click of the button.
The negative side to this free toolbar is that it requires a lot more effort on the part of the parent than other programs in terms of the monitoring. You’ll be responsible for turning the features on and off so you’ll need to be actively involved in what’s happening on the computer. It also lacks any complex web use scheduling functions that you’d find on pricier software like Net Nanny. Nevertheless, it’s a good product which is ideal for the parent who is new to parental control software and wants to just get a gist of what it’s all about.
photo credit: Extra Ketchup
