How to Set Parental Controls on Safari

Parents that want a way to monitor their children's Internet use and protect them against inappropriate Web content will often choose to set their own parental controls. The Safari Web browser allows parents to regulate their children's browsing abilities by giving them parental control over what Web sites are available to their children, what programs they are allowed to use, and what email addresses they are allowed to correspond with. Setting the parental controls on Safari is a great way to ensure that your children are safe and protected while using the Internet.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Macintosh computer running OS 10.4.2 or later
• Internet access
• Safari 2.0 Web browser

Set Your Parental Controls

1. Go to your computer's System Preferences window and choose 'Accounts' from the available options.
2. Click on the padlock icon in the bottom left hand corner of the window in order to allow changes to your account.
3. Type in your administrator username and password in order to unlock your preferences.
4. Choose the account you would like to modify from the list of users and click on it. This will bring up a list of the programs on your computer that can be configured.
5. Put a check in the box next to the Safari icon.
6. Click on the 'Configure' button to the right of the icon and press 'OK' when asked if you want to open Safari.
7. Type in a Web address for a site that you want to allow your child to visit. Although it won't display the page, Safari will ask you if you want to add this page to your child's bookmarks bar.
8. Click on 'Add Web site' to set the link.
9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 for other Web sites you want your child to be able to access.

Tips & Warnings

• Downloading the latest version of Safari is as easy as going to Apple's Safari download page and clicking on the download button (see Resources below).
• Safari 2.0 will only run on computers that have OS 10.4 (Tiger) installed.
• Setting parental controls can improve the security of all of the computer users in your family by making sure that your children do not download any suspect files.
• Complimentary customer support regarding Safari is available at 1-800-275-2273 for Macintosh users that have purchased their computer in the last 90 days.
• Advanced parental controls are not available on earlier versions of Safari. This guide was written specifically for the parental control functions in Safari 2.0.