There are many parental control software
packages to choose from, so take time for
research to find the one that is right for
you and your children. Here are some suggestions:
- Ask other parents and your kids' teachers
for suggestions.
- Determine which features are most important
to you. If you use software to prevent
your
child from giving personal information,
note
that your child might be able to
circumvent
it by changing formats. For example:
- If you load (123) 456-7890 as a phone number
to be blocked, the program might not recognize
1234567890 or 123.456.7890 as blocked information.
- Similarly, "11 Main St." might
not cause "11Main" or even "11
Main Street" to be blocked.
- Choose a package that lets you customize
what each child may see, such as
by
- setting varying degrees of security by subject
area.
- varying the levels of permission by child,
if you have several kids.
- Seek vendors that give frequent updates as
part of the purchase price.
Whatever programs you select, teach your
kids to be wise users of the Internet:
- Remind your children of the age-old advice
about being wary of strangers.
- Warn them not to divulge personal information
to strangers, or to any website without your
permission and oversight.
- Work with the parents of your kids' friends,
too. All your good work in buying, activating
and monitoring your parental control software
might be wasted if your kids can surf the
net in the homes of friends whose own parents
are less diligent.
To learn more about how parental control
software works, return to Parental Control Software - How it Works
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