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In my opinion, if you have the choice between a "white list" and a
"black list" (all racial connotations aside), you should use the "white
list". You may limit the number of places your child can surf to, but
you are not relying on some magic algorithm to block *all* bad
websites. If your child needs to go somewhere else, make them ask you
to add the website to the approved list.<br>
<br>
However, even a white list is not enough. If your children have more
technical knowledge than you do, they might be able to find a way
around the filters. Certainly, if a classmate has found a way then
your child will know it soon enough. I don't know what to advise about
this. I'm not a parent, and so have no history in this kind of thing.
I do recommend giving your children the tools they need to enable them
to handle a case where they will see something you don't want them to
without having it disturb them greatly. However, I don't know what
those tools are. I don't like the idea of monitoring software because
it sounds too much like Big Brother.<br>
<br>
Paul<br>
<br>
Art Deco wrote:
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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>
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<p>E-mail: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:shortcuts@nytimes.com">shortcuts@nytimes.com</a></p>
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