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In today’s society our children have so much technology at their fingertips. This is a benefit and a curse or sometimes all in one. There is such a vast amount of information out there, but also things we would not want our young children exposed to. It is our responsibility as a parent to know what our children are viewing via the Internet.
How to do that? Parental web control. This fairly new feature has become a household commodity for families that have young children at home that are allowed to surf the net. These controls give the parent the ability to set the computer on a timer to shut down at a certain allotted time. This keeps the child from being on the computer for hours on end while also allowing you the ability to set the amount of time they are spending on the computer.
Another neat feature is the capability to allow only certain programs to be displayed. This will allow you to shield your child from adult-oriented sites. It will block them from accessing the site at all. There are also programs that will track each individual keystroke that is entered on the computer. This means that you as the parent, can read everything your child has written including any instant message logs or games that the child opened up. Other features that are available are remote access to multiple computers to be able to monitor from outside the home (i.e. parent at work).
Other programs offer a feature that will email the parent if a questionable site is opened or installed. In a sense, big brother is always watching. Depending on what will fit your family’s needs, you are bound to find a program that will filter and protect the impressionable minds of your children. Overall, these software options are easily available and user friendly. The pricing can vary from free to around a hundred dollars.
