How to Use the Parental Controls on Internet Explorer

Let's face it, the Internet can be a great place for learning and interacting with friends, but it is also a wild place with lots of content that can be unsuitable for kids. Fortunately, Internet Explorer has parental controls that you can adjust according to what you do and do not want your children to be exposed to online. These parental controls can be adjusted according to a child's age and your own values.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Internet Explorer
• Internet access
• Computer

Control What Your Children See Online

1. Go to Internet Explorer on your computer. Click on 'Tools' from the toolbar in the upper right-hand corner of the Web browser.
2. Select the 'Content' tab.
3. Find the 'Content Advisor' heading and click on the button labeled 'Enable.'
4. Choose a category from the list. This list will present you with a variety of content categories that you may not want your children to see, such as sites depicting drug or alcohol use, violent images, nudity or bad language.
5. Click on the category you want to control. Then use your mouse to move the slider below the list to set the degree of restriction you want on that type of site. the degree of restriction can range from no restriction at all to the complete blocking of those sorts of sites.
6. Click 'OK.'
7. Set a password. You will be prompted to do so at this point. Setting a password will ensure that no one but you is able to adjust the parental control settings.

Tips & Warnings

• If you ever need further assistance with how to use the parental controls on Internet Explorer, head to its extensive FAQs page (see Resources below).
• Bear in mind that 64 MB of memory is required to operate Internet Explorer on your computer. If you don't have enough memory, you will have to install more before Internet Explorer will run on your system.
• Internet Explorer is looking out for your safety. Its phishing filter comes already turned on and ready to go. This filter examines the Web sites you visit to make sure they are legitimate and not run by criminals out to steal your identity.
• These instructions are meant to be used with Internet Explorer 7.0. Other versions of Internet Explorer may not be compatible with these steps.