Using Parental Controls

Parental controls allow you, as a parent or guardian to be able to control the computer in which your child or younger adult is using. You know the importance of doing so. Online predators are out there and they're readily stalking even the youngest of children that venture onto the net. Using parental controls allows you to keep control of the situation so you can make decisions for your child that will ultimately help them deal with what happens online.

What Can Be Done?

Each isp will have their own different set of parental controls that you can use. The first thing that you will want to do is to find out what types of software are being offered to you through your provider. If you do find that these parental controls are not enough to really protect your child, you can get others available to you to get. Before you make that investment, remember that some internet service providers do provide this, or at least some parental controls, with their service to you.

There are various options that you can use. Here are some of the services that are available.

- Monitor who can send your child email.

- Monitor who your child can send emails to, as well.

- Determine who can send instant messages to your child or who your child can chat with in chat rooms. Limit them by name or age, or just allow certain ones.

- Monitor the time that they are online. Set a timer for each visit as to how much time they could be online every time they are available onto the web.

- Determine which websites your child can go to as well as what type of website it is. Some limit the child to only those websites that are approved by you.

There are many services which you can use when it comes to parental controls. No doubt that you'll be able to find the perfect type of control for your needs either with your current internet service provider or with additional software that you purchase. The goal here is to find the product that provides you the overall best solution and protection for your child. This isn't the type of thing that you should put aside and do later.

Most parents realize the importance of monitoring their child online. But, even though you are providing this through the use of parental controls, you also need to educate your child regarding the dangers that are lurking online that allow them to be vulnerable. The truth is that many children, even younger ones, can navigate around the protections you put in place for them. If they do this, you may not know its happening and your child is left just as vulnerable as they were in the first place. For that reason, education is one of the important considerations you should have.