|
Parental Guidance
Shielding kids from Internet porn
Internet
porn and its appalling visibility rates have always been a topic
discussed with much interest worldwide. The ethical strains of the
issue still stay debatable while there would be no denying that what
has been done to shield children from the perils of porn on the Net,
is not enough.
There have been commendable efforts by individuals and organizations
towards facilitating a shield for families to guard children from
Net porn
WiseChoice.Net is one such effort. All the filtering takes place on
the servers and not on the computer. Every time an Internet address
is typed in, a link is clicked on or a word is searched for, the
address or the word is routed to computers where it is checked
against the Wisechoice's block list.
If the request made is not on the list, the browser proceeds to the
requested site. If otherwise, you get a message stating the
requested site has been blocked. The whole process takes less than a
second once it reaches the Internet.
With Wisechoice, the browsers don't even have to do monthly
download, constant monitoring or rating sites.
Whether to filter the content your kid is accessing or not is
obviously based on your personal convictions and values. Many
filters have already hit the market, with provisions ranging from
keeping history off accessed content to blocking access to chat and
undesirable content.
Services like America Online and other Internet Service Providers
allow parents to block certain services. However, it goes without
saying that a better option would always be taking a close look at
your kid's Internet habits.
Different filtering tools operate in different fashions. Certain
tools limit access to a specific list of websites classified as
"inappropriate." While some companies pick what should be filtered,
others let parents do it, among pre-set categories.
Some companies operate by employing people to look at and classify
web pages into categories that a parent may or may not choose to
block.
Certain filtering tools limit access to sites containing key words
like "breast." There are also tools which block only the bad words
and not the text surrounding them. Some filters apply to websites,
others to e-mail, chat and instant messaging, newsgroups, or a
combination.
There are also tools which analyze the language around keywords to
avoid blocking combination of words like "breast cancer".
Net Nanny: Net Nanny claims that it will protect children and
free speech on the Net. It also advertises that due to its filters,
Net Nanny will ensure on-line safety for user. Cybersitter:
Solid Oak’s CYBERsitter claims to offer the safest way to explore
cyberspace, for its users. It also claims to have by far the most
technologically advanced filtering product on the market due to its
use of an intelligent content recognition system, which recognizes
even brand new sites. Because of these technological advances,
CYBERsitter is "guaranteed to block over 95 per cent of all
objectionable content".
Cyber Patrol: Cyber Patrol advertises itself as the best way
to manage children’s computer use and safety on the Net. It claims
that all sites on its blocked list are reviewed by a team of
Internet professionals, including parents and teachers. Cyber Patrol
further claims that all blocked sites have been reviewed by human
eyes.
SurfWatch: SurfWatch claims that more than eight million
copies of its product have been downloaded and thus make it the most
popular, trusted product for harnessing the positive potential of
the Internet. Its mission statement notes, "We empower people with
the information, technology, and tools they need to harness the
positive potential of the Internet." With a blocked site list of
more than 100,000 URLs, it claims to be 90-95 per cent effective in
blocking objectionable sites, and due to its team of professional
web surfers the product will always remain up to date. SurfWatch
also advertises that all blocked sites are seen by human eyes, and
that difficult decisions are referred to an Advisory Committee of
parents, professionals, teachers, law enforcement, clergy and
community members.
|
Set as Homepage
Add to favorites