Content Blocking
A common concern with internet service is how to keep young family members out of adult-oriented sites.  
The average of new adult sites added per day is around 400.  Needless to say, with that many sites online there is no foolproof way of protecting children from 100% of adult content.  There are some very good steps you can take to block most of this content, however.
The most affective method of blocking adult content (or any other content you don't want viewed on your computer), is a content blocking program such as Net Nanny.  With programs such as this you can choose words and phrases which, when typed into your computer or when found on a website displayed on your computer, will automatically close the program that has been violated and then prevent it from being re-opened until the password is entered.  You can also set these programs to log violations so you can monitor the dates and times the violations occurred and what key words, phrases or content triggered the violation.  


Quick Fix
To block content without the aid of a program specifically designed for this purpose, there is a quick fix.  Your Internet Explorer program has some built-in settings you can activate to help monitor the types of content which can be viewed online.
To activate this blocking system, open Internet Explorer, click on "Tools" at the top of the screen and then click on "Internet Options."  Click the "Content" tab.  You will see "Content Advisor" at the top of this box.  Click "Enable."   From the box you can now choose what types of content you want completely blocked and what degree of content you will allow through.  Once you have set the levels of content you will allow, you will be asked for a password.  Remember this password!  You are the only person with access to the password, it's not kept on file anywhere.  Don't share the password with anyone you are trying to protect by activating these settings or you will be defeating the purpose.  

The Downside
The downside to using the built-in Internet Explorer blocking device is that it works by checking the "ratings" of sites once the URL's have been entered.  There are many perfectly innocent websites out there which have not been rated.  If a site hasn't been rated, you won't be able to visit that site without entering the password.  
If you forget the password you use to enable this mechanism, you may be stuck being unable to open un-rated sites or any sites which are beyond the ratings you set.

Great Protection
The award-winning Net Nanny software program is available for purchase at the MWSI office.   

While content blocking programs can be very helpful in protecting your children from adult content, the only 100% affective method of protection is to personally monitor online activity.  There is no substitute for parental supervision.  



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