Protect Your Child on the Internet

by Hannah Wolfson

Andrew Copple is only 6, but he already knows how to navigate the Internet and chat online. His brother, Spencer, 3, can peck his way to the Cartoon Network’s website with little help.

The boys’ computer skills make their dad proud, but they also make him a little nervous. As webmaster for an Internet provider in Sergeant Bluffs, Iowa, Scott Copple knows cyberspace can lead his kids into trouble.

So Copple keeps the computer in the living room so he can check on the children and warns them not to talk about themselves online. He also uses an Internet filter to help.

Filters have been around a while, starting with basic software that filters out certain words and blocks sites that include them.

Other filters ban specified sites or allow access only to a pre-approved list.

A third type restricts surfing to sites that carry voluntary ratings. These block pornographic websites but also unrated sites such as the White House and Supreme Court.

Popular software options include:

CyberPatrol ($39.95, www.cyberpatrol.com) lets parents set time restrictions on web usage and can keep kids from giving out certain information online.
Net Nanny ($39.95, www.netnanny.com) allows users to set limits by age groups and keeps a log of all usage.
We-Blocker (Free, www.we-blocker.com) relies on users to update its list of blocked websites and lets users ban specific sites.

Families also can use Internet providers to filter. Some of the country’s largest Internet service providers offer improved parental controls.

Remember that no technology can replace solid parenting, says Parry Aftab, director of www.wiredSafety.org and author of The Parent’s Guide to Protecting Your Children in Cyberspace. The best filter isn’t childproof, and won’t keep kids from giving personal information online.

Ask your children about their online friends, she says, and try to guide them toward kid-friendly websites and search engines.

“Unless we teach our children how to use the filter between their ears, they’re at risk,” Aftab says. “That’s the most important filter out there.”

Hannah Wolfson is a freelance writer based in Orange City, Iowa.

first appeared: 5/4/2003