Tips for Protecting Children Online - Part 2

We at Spysure recognise that our monitoring software is just one piece in the puzzle of protecting children online. In the same way that many foods and dietary supplements are useful for weight loss as part of a balanced diet, Spysure is suitable for protecting children as part of a balanced parental strategy.

Today we'd like to offer some more specific technical advice about how certain sites can be configured to make them safer for your children.  Using a combination of responsible parenting and computer-savvy, you can greatly reduce the risk of your children being exposed to unsuitable material on the internet.

Online Tips

1. Enable and Lock Google SafeSearch
   
   Whilst Google is not the only search engine on the block, it is by far the most popular, and there is a good chance that when your children go to search for something, it is Google that delivers the results.  Google offers a facility called "Safesearch" which tries to screen sites that contain sexually explicit material so that they do not appear in your serach results.  You can also "Lock" safesearch with a parental password, so that it will always be on.  This is a great first step to ensure that your children don't stumble across explicit material with a web search.
   
   More Information: Google Tips for Online Safety
   
   
   
2. Confused about Social Networks? Try it yourself!
   
   Social Networking services like Bebo, MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.  Instant messaging services like MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger and Skype.  All gobbledegook to you?  Then why not sign up yourself and learn how to use them.  Once you have signed up for sites like Facebook, they're quite easy to use, and you can get a good "feel" for the way in which you can interact with your contacts.  Most of these sites offer "privacy" settings which you can use to determine which information is in the public domain, which types of information This will make it much easier for you to talk authoratively to your children about how to use these sites safely and responsibly, and set guidelines about what they should or shouldn't do when online.  Particularly for younger children, you might also want to set the privacy settings on their account yourself (see below).
   
   More Information: Kidsmart
   
   
   
3. Use Privacy Settings on Social Networks
   
   Facebook, and other social networking sites, offer an array of tools that allow you to configure exactly what information is shared with whom.  You can choose to hide yourself from search results, share all of your information only with your friends or family, share specific information with specific people (or groups of people) - the list goes on.  As a parent, it's certainly advisable to check out these settings yourself, so you understand how it works and can advise your children accordingly.  Note that adding these privacy settings normally won't significantly change the "experience" for your child - they can continue to enjoy using the site to make contact with their friends - but it will make it a lot safer.
   
   More Information: AllFacebook Blog

We hope that this will prove a useful starting point for ensuring your children have a safe online experience.

Let us know what you think by posting a comment, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or simply email support@spysure.com.