If you have children, you must use parental controls in Windows to control their Internet activity. There are several steps you can take to limit exposure to risky sites, as well as the time of day your children access the Internet. Children are growing up in a world that publishes content virtually instantaneously online, and they understand and are quick to adapt to ways to circumvent low-level parental control techniques, so it is important to lock down your network and keep the following suggestions in mind for controlling access to the World Wide Web.
Change Your Administrator Password
Your kids probably already know you use the same password for everything. The absolute very first thing you should do is login to Windows, go to the Control Panel and update the password for the Administrator’s account. You should then create a Standard User account for your kids. This gives them limited capabilities and will help make sure the parental controls you implement stay enforced. You also need to make sure users have to login to the Admin account. It’s possible to have the Admin account stay logged in when you are away from the computer. Make sure you either logout when you step away or you have Windows automatically log you out after a few minutes of inactivity. Otherwise, you risk your children getting access to the Admin account when you’re away from the PC.
Parental Controls on the Windows Level
Windows Vista and Windows 7 have taken parental controls seriously and allow you to quickly setup an Internet plan that will help you limit exposure to the Internet for your kids. From the User Accounts section of the Control Panel, simply click on the Standard User account you created for your child and enable the Parental Controls feature. You will then be able to set the time of day the Internet is accessed from that user account, as well as the sites that are allowed and dis-allowed. If you choose this type of protection, you need to make sure you use this on every desktop and laptop in the house.
Dictate Parental Controls At The Router Level
Another technique you can use to manage Parental Controls is at the router level. When you do thei, you do not need to worry about securing every machine. While you should still setup parental controls and standard user accounts, when you control the router, you control the traffic going through it. We find the best way to manage this on a consumer level is to create an account with OpenDNS. OpenDNS is an open source Domain Look-up Service. DNS is used to match IP addresses of websites to the name you type in the address bar of your browser. You are probably currently using the DNS provided by your Internet Service Provider. But you can use any DNS servers you want. When you use OpenDNS you login to your account through them and setup sites you allow and dis-allow. You can control the time of day the Internet is used and many other options. Complete instructions for setting this up are at the OpenDNS website. Remember, as with your computers, be sure to change the router’s Admin password.
Keep Computers In A Centralized Location
Our final tips about having a strong Parental Control policy in your home is to setup the family computer in an area where you can keep an eye on their activity. Laptops in their bedrooms or anywhere else is dangerous, as children can hide what their looking at when they take the computer out of the room. Also, be wary of cell phone with Internet Access, as cell phones these days are more like laptops than phones.
