Keeping Children Safe on the Internet

It's a common worry among parents: "How can I make sure that my children don't go to inappropriate sites?"

There are ways to restrict access to some websites; some ways of doing it are more selective than others. If you have a router attached to your modem, there are ways to restrict access to all users of your home or business network - please see my earlier piece on using OpenDNS for your Domain Name Server.

For individual computers, a program like NetNanny is a powerful way of controlling access for individual computers.

There is an other way, but it involves making some changes to the Hosts file. Basically, you enter the web address of the sites you want to block, and the Hosts file does the rest. It's a bit fiddly to do, and I won't go into details here, but I'm grateful to a piece in MicroMart magazine (Issue 1100, 1-7 April 2010: in the "Ask Jason" section) for the information.

If you'd like to know how to modify the Hosts file, get in touch and I'll send you the details.

Jason in the same article points out - wisely, in my opinion - that the best way to keep youngsters safe on the Internet is to educate them into safe ways, of surfing and communicating. Schools are beginning to do that, and parents and carers can help. After all, they're going to want to experiment (we all did in our various pre-internet ways!), so let's guide them into safe habits.

Sermon over!