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<DIV class=timestamp>April 14, 2007</DIV>
<DIV class=kicker><NYT_KICKER>Shortcuts</NYT_KICKER></DIV>
<H1><NYT_HEADLINE type=" " version="1.0">Tools to Keep the Web Safe for Children
</NYT_HEADLINE></H1><NYT_BYLINE type=" " version="1.0"></NYT_BYLINE>
<DIV class=byline>By ALINA TUGEND</DIV><NYT_TEXT></NYT_TEXT>
<DIV id=articleBody>
<P>RECENTLY, a friend’s 9-year-old son stumbled onto some all-too-vivid
pornography while playing games on a children’s Web site.</P>
<P>At first he was scared to let his mom know. But unable to hold it in any
longer he blurted out that the images were “haunting” him.</P>
<P>“I can’t get these pictures out of my head,” he told her. “I think about them
all the time.” </P>
<P>My friend was stunned, especially since she thought she had some fairly
strong controls on her computer to prevent such a thing from happening. “I felt
like a terrible mother,” she said.</P>
<P>Listening to her, I felt like a fairly ignorant one. I had heard of Internet
parental controls and filters, but had never checked them out. Telling our sons
that they could visit only certain Web sites — and as our computer is in a
common room, keeping an eye on what they are doing — seemed adequate to me.</P>
<P>But hearing my friend’s story, I began to wonder whether I needed to
investigate further. But first, I had to learn the language.</P>
<P>Broadly, filtering allows parents to control access to Web sites in different
ways: some companies decide what is blocked; some let parents pick among
predetermined categories; some provide a list that allows parents to add or
remove sites.</P>
<P>A blacklist filters out Web sites usually based on categories, like sexually
explicit material, hate groups or graphic violence. Filters generally do this by
using one or a combination of the following methods: searching Web addresses or
U.R.L.’s; keyword searches; or “context sensitive” keywords so that in the most
common example, a chicken breast recipe or information about breast cancer would
not be blocked when the word “breast” pops up.</P>
<P>Filtering can also be based on a “white list,” that is, allowing your child
to use only approved Web sites. </P>
<P>There are different ways to install controls on a computer. The two most
common are buying software or using what is available through your Internet
service provider, which offers parental controls. The software — many different
types are available — usually runs about $50 annually, while some service
providers offer filters free. The newest version of <A
title="More information about Microsoft Corporation"
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/microsoft_corporation/index.html?inline=nyt-org">Microsoft</A>
Windows, Windows Vista, has parental controls built into its system for the
first time.</P>
<P>“When a parent calls, I say, check out what you already have before buying
anything,” said Danielle Yates, a spokeswoman for <A
title="International Education Foundation"
href="http://getnetwise.org/">GetNetWise.org</A>, which is part of the nonprofit
organization, the Internet Education Foundation. </P>
<P>GetNetWise.org provides a wealth of information about Internet controls,
including the debate surrounding the issue and details about specific products.
I found out, for example, that most of the Internet search engines, like <A
title="More information about Google Inc."
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/google_inc/index.html?inline=nyt-org">Google</A>,
AOL and <A title="More information about Yahoo! Inc."
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/yahoo_inc/index.html?inline=nyt-org">Yahoo</A>,
have a simple process allowing you to set strict, moderate or no filter on your
search engine to weed out explicit sexual content. </P>
<P>In a telephone survey conducted last year of 935 parents and teenagers — to
be released in a coming report — the <A
title="More articles about Pew Internet and American Life Project"
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/p/pew_internet_and_american_life_project/index.html?inline=nyt-org">Pew
Internet and American Life Project</A> found that 53 percent of parents said
they used filters and 45 percent said they used monitoring devices.</P>
<P>The survey also found that 50 percent of the teenagers thought that their
parents were blocking Web sites, while 35 percent thought that they were being
monitored.</P>
<P>Amanda Lenhart, a senior research specialist who oversaw the report, said in
some cases the teenagers did not know their parents were snooping on them; in
other cases they wrongly assumed their parents were using monitoring
devices.</P>
<P>Installing a filter, however, is “not a silver bullet,” Ms. Yates said.
Although they are usually fairly effective, bad stuff gets through, as my friend
learned. </P>
<P>And although most of the opposition to blocking software is aimed at its use
in public spaces like libraries and schools, some critics object in general to
the technology. There are a myriad of reasons: it is censorship plain and
simple; it leaves parents with a false sense of security; and by relying too
much on technology, rather than education and supervision, children will be
unprepared to deal with exposure to inappropriate content when it does
eventually occur. </P>
<P>Neil Rubenking, lead analyst for operating systems and security for PC
Magazine, reviews filtering and monitoring software. The best filter, he said,
is his own eyes and ears.</P>
<P>“I work at home and I can look out at their computer, which is in a niche in
the hall,” he said, speaking of the computer his teenagers use.</P>
<P>And a tech-savvy child who is determined to get around a block will always
find a way to do it, he said.</P>
<P>“They’ll find another place if your home is totally locked down,” Mr.
Rubenking said. “They will go to Jimmy’s house next door.”</P>
<P>As every Web site on safe Internet use stresses, nothing replaces talking to
your children about what they should and should not do on the computer; what Web
sites they are allowed to visit; and ideally having the computer in a common
room so you can keep an eye on it.</P>
<P>A step beyond filtering is monitoring software. Safe Eyes, for example, was
top-rated by PC Magazine last year and Consumer Reports in 2005, both for its
protection and for its minimal interference with legitimate research
activity.</P>
<P>Safe Eyes blocks Web sites, but that is only the beginning; it can also log
Internet activity, limit time spent on the computer, alert parents of
inappropriate computer activity and read details of instant-messaging chats. It
costs $49.95 a year (<A href="http://www.safeeyes.com/"
target=_>www.safeeyes.com</A>).</P>
<P>“It certainly changes the climate of trust in the household, although a lot
of parents do it when there are a lot of problems and they’re trying to keep
their children safe,” Ms. Lenhart said.</P>
<P>Filtering I understand. The monitoring — or let us call it what it is, spying
— seems far more repellent. But my oldest is just coming up to the teen years;
when I hear parents of teenagers talking about MySpace and blogs and instant
messaging, I want to bypass the monitoring software altogether and just toss the
computer out the window.</P>
<P>The problem with snooping on your child, as Lawrence Balter, professor of
applied psychology at <A title="More articles about New York University."
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/new_york_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org">New
York University</A> said, is: “How do they develop common sense if someone is
breathing down their neck? Then they spend all their time trying to evade
you.”</P>
<P>But many parents I know say the world is too scary, especially the online
world, and they want to exercise all the control they can.</P>
<P>Emma, the 14-year-old daughter of a good friend, said her parents blocked her
access to various Web sites, including YouTube and MySpace. First of all, she
let me know, she knows how to get around the AOL filters by getting access to
the Internet through another provider, but she chooses not to do that.</P>
<P>“I don’t really care that much, except it is really annoying that YouTube is
blocked,” Emma said. “I just want to listen to music. I used to think it was
unfair that I couldn’t go on MySpace, but now I’m O.K. with it, because not a
lot of my friends are on MySpace anymore.</P>
<P>“My parents clamp down more than my other friends’ parents,” she continued,
“and I don’t think they should be able to do it. I’m smart enough not to do
stupid things.”</P>
<P>The war between parents and children over control of the Internet is mirrored
in the technological world’s battles over filters and monitoring software; there
are anticensorship Web sites like <A href="http://peacefire.org/"
target=_>peacefire.org</A> that show how to circumvent blocking software.</P>
<P>But of course, many filters now block the
site.</P><NYT_AUTHOR_ID></NYT_AUTHOR_ID>
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