How to Choose Your Parental Control Software
Actively screening your child's Internet usage is the best way to help ensure your child's safety online but it is not always the most practical method of doing so. Parental control software are applications that parents can install on a computer than can help filter, block and monitor their child's computer usage. Choosing the right parental control software involves finding a solution that fits your budget and your family's unique computing requirements.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Determine how much you want to spend on your parental control software. Free and commercial programs are available. For example, Microsoft Windows 7 includes built-in parental controls and Mozilla Firefox has free, parental control extensions available from its website. Parents who want to buy a commercial solution can choose from a variety of different programs, each with different functionality. Commercial parental control software pricing differs between solutions: some applications can be purchased outright while others may have on-going subscription based payment system.
-
2
Determine the type of features you want for your family. Basic features on most parental control software include Internet filtering and basic access controls. More advanced features may include "steal mode" where users do not know that their activity is monitored. Every family requires different features, depending on their unique situation. For example, a family with younger children who only use the computer supervised may only want an Internet filter to help keep their children away from dangerous websites while families with older children may want increased functionality such as time restriction and activity logging.
-
-
3
Download a trial version to evaluate the software. After you have determined your budget and required features, download a trial version of the software, if one exists. Trial versions are an excellent way to test if the solution will work for you and your family. Some parental control software allows you to download a trial of the application before committing to buy it.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Licenses for commercial parental control software vary. Some licenses will allow you to install the software on multiple computers while others may only offer a single computer per purchase.
Some individual applications allow parents to control their children's time and access to an application or service without third-party software. For example, Blizzard's World of Warcraft video game allows parents to set permitted log-in times and gaming time limits from the account management page.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit BananaStock/BananaStock/Getty Images
