How to Make a Computer Safe for Kids

Contributor

By Virginia DeBolt
eHow Contributing Writer

Article Rating: (17 Ratings)

Kids know how to Google for information by age 3 these days. How do you set up your home computer so that it's safe for your kids to use without you watching them every single second they are online? Read on for some ways.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Mac OS X

How to Make it Safe With Windows Vista

Step 1

Create a separate user account for your child. Give the child a Limited User account with restricted controls. Teach your child how to log into this account, but no others.
Step 2

Each user has a unique profile with his or her own Desktop and My Documents folder. Limited Users cannot change system settings or install new hardware or software, including most games, media players and chat programs.
Step 3

To do this, log in as Administrator. Click Start > Control Panel > Add or Remove User Accounts. Click Create New Account.
Step 4

Once you have the account set up, return to the Control Panel. Under User Accounts, click Set up Parental Controls. Under Windows Settings, click Windows Vista Web Filter and set up the restrictions you want on web content. Under Windows Settings, click Games and set the rating for the games you will allow your child to play.
Step 5

Vista also allows you to set time limits and view logs showing your child's activity on the computer.

How to Make it Safe With Mac OS X (Leopard)

Step 1

Create a separate user account for your chlld. Teach your child how to log into this account, but no others.
Step 2

Log in as Administrator. Open System Preferences and click Accounts. Click on the lock icon and enter your administator password. In the Login Options, turn on Enable Fast User Switching. Add a new user by clicking the plus sign (+) below list the accounts.
Step 3

For the new account, choose Managed with Parental Controls. Choose the username and the password your child will use. Click Create Account. Be sure you do not check Allow User to Administer This Computer. Click the Open Parental Controls button to configure the settings. You can configure System, Content, Mail & iChat, Time Limits and Logs.
Step 4

In System you can remove everything from the desktop and dock that you don't want the child using. In Content you can set which, if any, websites your child can visit and what kinds of sites will show up in a Google search. For older kids you can specify which kids they can email and chat with.
Step 5

You can personalize the new account with a picture of your child instead of an icon.