INTERNET | Sympatico Service | Computers and Modems
Can I restrict my children's use of the internet?
The long and the short of it is "Yes, you can, but no, we cannot." Let us explain.
You have probably heard about the controversy surrounding the uncensored and uncontrolled nature of the Internet. The Internet is not owned or controlled by any organization or country, and it knows no geographic boundaries. There are those who wish to control and censor it, and those who don't; and those who say it can't be done in any case. Due to the uncensored nature of the Internet, some material (a very small proportion of the total) is certainly inappropriate for a young audience and, some would say, even for adults. If you look for it, sexually explicit material, hate propaganda and other objectionable material can be found.
What we offer through the Sympatico service is full uncensored access to the Internet, in all its glory and with all its warts. The question is: how to get the value out of the Internet while avoiding its warts? We offer the following suggestions:
- Within the Sympatico Web site, we provide an area for children and teens called Kids & Teens. Our intention with this area is to provide hundreds of links to sites on the Internet (selected from many thousands) which we feel are appropriate for a younger audience. We recommend that you encourage your children to surf within this area. Sites have been selected that are interesting, educational, fun, or just plain silly, but do not knowingly contain any material of an objectionable nature (and if you do not agree with one of our selections, we would like to hear from you!).
- A useful online resources for educators, parents and students is Web Awareness: knowing the issues (http://www.webawareness.org/), provided by the Media Awareness network . This site strives to advise those concerned about new media culture and its affect on children and young people, and provide them with a place to discuss such issues.
- There are now a few commercially available software products that you can purchase and install on your computer to 'block out' objectionable material on the Internet. These products act something like 'virus checkers', but they scan for objectionable material on the Internet rather than viruses on your computer. These products attempt to block out any known material that would be unsuitable for a young person before it comes to your computer. Information on these products (such as SurfWatch, Net Nanny, CYBERSitter, Internet Lifeguard) can be found on the Internet (select Search on the Sympatico toolbar) and at your local computer store; or you can see our list of censoring software. If searching on the Internet, try using search words such as screening; parental; control; blocking software.
- You can password-protect your Sympatico account. This means that each time someone connects to the Sympatico service from your computer, they will be asked for a password. If you are the only one who knows the password, your children can't access the Internet if you are not around. Read our instructions on how to password-protect your Sympatico account.
- Since the Sympatico service does not (and cannot) restrict your use or your child's use of the Internet, the only guaranteed safe way for your child to surf is with you! Discover together.
A note of caution: While we have made every effort to review the contents of the sites we have selected for children, it should be recognized that we do not have control over these sites, which have been created by third parties. Furthermore, Internet sites that are one or more links removed from Kids & Teens may not fit our selection criteria. And lastly, unsupervised, your children can purposely or accidentally access other sites directly on the Internet that would not be appropriate for them.
A note of caution: While these products can be highly effective, they are not guaranteed foolproof. See our list of censoring software.
Related Questions:
Can I restrict the use of my Sympatico account with a password?
Safe surfing and the Sympatico service
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