People say that technology moves faster than the speed of mankind – but what does that really mean? For the internet, it means the world is at our fingertips. The amount of information we have access to online is limitless, so the internet can be a scary place – especially for children. It is our jobs as parents to protect our kids from the dangers associated with the internet, but how can we do this for something that seems to have no control parameters?

The first rule of thumb that many parents overlook is that if you allow your children to access the internet, the computer should be placed in a common room in your home, such as your living room or family room – not in the child’s bedroom. This gives you the ability to see what your kids are doing online at all times.

The next thing to do would be to purchase and install parental control software. This is an easy way to filter what your children can access on the internet. The programs are easy to download and install and have advanced features that give you great control.

How does parental control software work exactly?
Parental control software allows you to directly filter the web content your children can access by giving you the ability to block categories of content. This is very specific filtering so that you can block access to things like gambling, pornography, drugs, racism, violence, and much more. The software allows you to control what is downloaded onto your computer, as well. If you want to avoid harmful files from being downloaded, you can choose to block the programs such as EXE files, Peer to Peer file and music sharing programs, and even videos, images, and more.

StarReviews Top 3 Parental Control Software

1) Net Nanny

2) Webroot Parental Controls

3) My Nabyoo

Compare All Parental Control Software

Parental control software is password controlled and gives you the ability to set different parameters for each member of your family. You can provide your children with different levels of protection based on your own rules for age appropriateness, and it is completely customizable to your needs. Some of the parental control software programs even allow you to set up an internet schedule – which means no more fighting over the computer!

All of this sounds great for a parent but like many parents, you feel that you know less about the internet than your child.  A good parental control software product makes you smarter than your child and allows you to protect them as well.  Most parental control products are simple and intuitive and are built for parents that are not extremely computer literate.  Just because your child  many know more about the internet than you does not exclude you from responsibility of watching your childrens online activities.