Opinion Playing Netnanny
How do you ensure curious children are protected from the dark side of the Internet?
Here’s how to keep you kids safe on the Web.
Every time I see my seven-year-old nephew open YouTube to search for his favourite songs and cartoons,I fear he will end up seeing something he shouldn’t. With most searches being intuitive,there is no telling what it will throw up. But this isn’t a risk associated just with YouTube. Any web search can pop up a result which was not exactly what the child was searching for and this could have disastrous results.
So how do you ensure curious children are protected from the dark side of the Internet? For one,you can install an anti-virus or Internet protection software (like Kaspersky or Bitdefender) and activate the safe browsing option. This won’t let many websites,especially those with a bad reputation or poor WOT rating,to be opened on your PC. This will automatically block most notorious sites and undesirable links.
But the best way to keep children safe on the Web is by making them stick to browsers meant especially for kids. Searching for browsers meant just for kids,I came across Kidzui,KidRocket and Pikluk. Besides ensuring that its young users do not access adult content also provide them a lot of new,and safe,surfing options. All of them are also designed to keep children hooked,with handy links to their popular websites like Nickelodeon and Disney.
Kidzui for instance lists the best of child-safe games and tube videos. There is even a child-friendly search,where the popular keywords are already listed. Pikluk on the other hand gives children the option of a email account too,promising parents that it will keep out all ‘unwanted messages’. Once on,the browser also prevents children from accessing documents and files stored on the computer.
But then kids will be kids and making them stick to anything will be a tough task. So for a bit of extra protection,you can activate a keylogger which will record everything your child does on the PC. You can use the logs to see how your child uses the computer or Internet,and if needed guide about safe browsing options. On the other hand,software like KidStarter lets them access only programmes and websites approved by you,ensuring complete control.
The paranoid parent can,however,opt for extreme measures like the TimesUpKidz software to block computer usage after a specific time period. But this will not make you very popular with this kids.
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