Net Nanny: A Working Parent's Friend

Working parents are always concerned about the safety of their children, and this is perhaps even more of an issue during the summer, when the kids are out of school and the parent still works full time. With kids spending so much of their time on the Internet today, and with so many stories about the impact of violent and sexual content online, pedophiles prowling for victims on social networking sites like MySpace.com, and other dangers, parents need new resources to help them protect their children. Luckily, the resources are here.

Virtual Babysitter Keeps Kids Out of Trouble Online

Net Nanny is reasonably-priced software designed to block access to certain websites and applications, limit the amount of time spent online, and keep sensitive information from being sent over the Internet. It offers a free trial download for 15 days from its website www.netnanny.com, with full price including updates at $39.95 per year.

Stacey Bergersen, Patient Coordinator at South Florida Plastic Surgery, highly recommends Net Nanny for working parents: "Net Nanny has made a major impact. As a single working mother I cannot be over my son’s shoulder every minute and I feel he should be able to have computer time. My son has learned with this Net Nanny not to abuse his privileges. I feel every parent should use this system."

What You Need to Know

It’s worth it to know what you want from your filtering software before you get it. Net Nanny offers several possibilities, including

• Creating a log of each user’s Internet activity—e.g., what websites they visit—and having the log automatically e-mailing to you.

• Blocking web graphics, cookies, and pop-up ads.

• Restricting or prohibiting the use of chat rooms, newsgroups, online gaming programs, Instant Messaging, and file downloading programs.

• Filtering out objectionable words from websites, e-mails, and some online chats.

• Setting time limits for different users.

• Protect the family’s personal and financial information, including ages, addresses, phone numbers, bank account numbers, etc.

All of these restrictions can be made different for each user, so that parents, older children, and younger children can have access to a different range of content.

Net Nanny’s Limitations, and How to Handle Them

Of course, no filtering software is perfect. Some websites seem to resist Net Nanny’s filter, a few adult-oriented websites are not blocked at all, and some innocent sites are blocked or logged as violations.

The best strategy is to use Net Nanny actively, checking the activity log daily and talking with your child about his/her Internet activity. It is important to visit any sites logged as violations that are not obviously offensive. With this information, you can effectively fine-tune the filter to allow good sites but prohibit truly offensive sites. The Internet activity log is also a useful tool to communicate with your children about specific violations, kinds of content, and the importance of safety and rules during their long summer away from school.