Internet Safety

The Internet is packed to the rafters with unsuitable material for kids – and most adults too, come to think of it! This all comes from the Internet’s tendency to allow free speech without any sort of ‘big-brother’ regulation. So how do we protect the kids without being so strict that they learn to loathe using the PC?

You're probably browsing the Internet with Internet Explorer, which has some built in tools to filter out the rubbish.

* Go to the Tools menu and choose Internet Options
* Click Content along the top
* For 'Content Advisor', Choose Enable
* Customise the settings to suit yourself
* Click OK and enter a password that will be required to turn the Content Advisor off. DO NOT FORGET THIS PASSWORD!

Mega's Top 5 Safe Surfing Tips:

* put the PC in the busiest room of the house
* make it your mission to close the 'knowledge gap'!
* educate kids not to give out any personal details
* explain what to do if they become uncomfortable
* use parental controls, both built-in and bought software.

It is also a good idea to choose a service provider who offers an extra level of parental control - like AOL. With an AOL account, you get up to 7 different screen names which can be shared amongst the family. Parents can set each screen name up with different levels of security, depending on the age of the user. Lots of things can be customised, like access to web sites, instant messages, email, chat, newsgroups and downloads.

Visit http://www.aol.com.au

Norton Internet Security also comes with some good Parental Control options within the software. You can set up different user accounts for the computer, with different access rights for each person. It also comes with a personal Firewall which protects your computer from unwanted advances! Available from your local software retailer for around around $148, such as Dick Smith Electronics or Harvey Norman.

For the report the ABA conducted on many different filtering options, visit them online.

The important code is the Content Code which all members of the IIA (majority of ISPs) agree to abide by, incorporating content filtering products etc can be found at the IIA website.

SPAM and Unwanted Email

Check out EcoFuture's site for some great tips on the why, what and how-to-stop unwanted email: http://www.ecofuture.org/jnkmail.html

If you find that a particular unwanted site has taken over your Internet Browser, you may need to reset the home page:

* Navigate to the site you'd like to use as your default home page.
* Go to Tools, Internet Options
* In the Home Page section, choose 'Use Current'

If this does not fix the problem, you'll need to get a computer-savvy friend to go through the Registry for you and delete all references to the site that is causing the concern.

More Information on Kid Safety Online:

ISP iinet sums it all up nicely.

http://dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/Computers/Internet/Internet_Safety/

http://www.getnetwise.org/americalinksup/ - go to 'Good Stuff for Kids'

http://www.napcan.com.au - National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect

http://ninemsn.com.au/kids/help.asp - great Safe Surfing rules for kids and parents.

For my fact sheet archive, visit http://www.getmega.com/getmega/todayshow.html