How do I protect my Children from undesirable contacts & pornography?


This is a problem that more parents should be aware of. The Internet is free of censorship. There is true anonymity regarding the age and identity of the person your child may be chatting with. I recommend a 2-prong approach that will set you at ease and help to protect your child.

  1. Programs such as Net Nanny and Cybersitter will block access to sites that have adult material. You can download free updates so the latest sites will be blocked. You can tailor the level of blocking Violence, Sex, Hate Groups etc. to different levels for different levels of maturity. Most major retail electronics stores like Best Buys, Computer City, etc. have these programs available.

  1. American Online has had a constant problem with sexual predators taking advantage of the young. There are hundreds of chat rooms for children and teens that provide them with shielded access to people who are led to believe at first are of the same age. American Online has tried to monitor and prevent this with limited success due to the nature of the medium. Make sure your children understand how easy it is to fool someone that can't see you. AMERICAN ONLINE IS POTENTIALY UNSAFE FOR YOUR CHILD.

  1. Use a local Internet provider. They offer faster web access and the lack of chat rooms will prevent these problems from occurring. They may miss the chat areas at first if you dump AOL but the reference materials and the whole world of knowledge is out there waiting for them.


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