Over the past decade, children have been getting online at a much younger age. In many cases some kids are using tablet computers to access the Internet at ages as young as two years old. Many school systems have followed suit and are providing electronic versions of textbooks in place of traditional books for students to use further encouraging children to increase the amount of time spent on the computer. Unfortunately, for all of the good that can come out of the Internet and other electronic media, the number of dangers to minor children continues to increase. Instead of denying access to the computer, another option that exists to protect minor children is the installation of parental control software to help monitor activity and protect against threats.

Dangers to Children Online

It seems as though a month doesn’t go by that a news story breaks in the national press regarding online bullies, teenagers meeting dangerous contacts online, or rogue actors that entice teens into providing sensitive pictures that are used in online pornography. Combined with the growing dangers of computer spyware that can put a dent in the parent’s pocketbook, and at times it seems as though the cons of allowing children online outweigh the benefits.

Cyber Bullying – Cyber bullying has been in the news more frequently over the past several years to include a LifeTime move, Odd Girl Out, in the mid-2000’s to further highlight the growing issue to the public. Unfortunately, most teenagers will not tell their parents when they encounter bullies online at all or after matters get out of hand. In the worst cases, online bullies have pushed teens to attempting suicide or other atypical behavior.

Making Dangerous Contacts Online – Between Facebook, instant messaging services, and email, children are potentially exposed to a large number of strangers whenever they get onto the computer. Many times, pedophiles or other miscreants will groom contacts with young people online to establish trust. In the worst cases, they will grow the online relationship to the point of meeting in the real-world.

Sharing too Much Information with the Online World – Teens and young adults love to make friends and share information. In most cases, they will share too much information publicly to include phone numbers, home addresses, and more. Any of this information by itself doesn’t necessarily prove dangerous, but there have been criminal cases where thieves were able to target homes based on the teenager(s) in the home sharing their address and letting the public know how excited they are about an upcoming vacation.

Online Overdose. The number of websites that exist is almost uncountable. Left to their own devices, many children can stay on the computer throughout the day and night surfing, playing games, and talking to friends. This behavior can lead to the child sleeping in class during school, getting worse grades, and suffering a decline in overall fitness.

Rogue or Adult Websites – There are a number of websites online that provide adult-rated content not suitable for children to include: pornography, gambling, drugs, weapons, and even sites devoted to helping students cheat at school. Unfortunately, many of these “off-limits” areas draw young people in to visit them and many have been hacked or infected with computer malware. If the parent shares the same computer with their teen, he or she could quickly find the computer infected with computer spyware and have their personal and financial information stolen as a result.

How Can Parents Protect Children from Online Threats?

There are several methods that parents can use to help protect their children from online threats. The first, and one of the most important, is to set a good example for the child and provide them regular instruction on the potential dangers they can encounter online. This ranges from always leaving the computer’s anti-virus software running, to avoiding website niches that can commonly get infected with computer malware. For the parent who is just not physically able to monitor a young person’s online activity, parental control software provides a unique capability to monitor and prevent the child from accessing inappropriate material on the computer. The more advanced versions of these software applications are also able to limit the total amount of time the young person’s computer can be allowed online, the time of day, and even hardened against hacking in the event the kid tries to override the parental controls.

Implementing Parental Control Hardware

Many consumers now average in excess of one Internet capable device per person in the household. Many homes actually average two or three when you take into account laptops, cell phones, iPods, game consoles, etc. Parental control software loses its effectiveness when the child can simply surf to illicit material on their iPod once they realize that their laptop or desktop computer is not able to go to the desired websites. As a result, many of the parental control software manufacturers have starting pushing the software settings to the router-level in hardware.

Hardware-level parental controls let parents block inappropriate content on all connected devices in the home. These won’t be able to help with cell phones that have 3G or 4G connectivity, but can help with all of the other devices in the home. Hardware-based solutions are typically capable of both web filters, and Internet time scheduling at the device-level. They are not yet capable of providing the same level of monitoring and detailed control that parental control software are able to accomplish at the user account-level.

Implementing Mobile Parental Controls

Since many kids are getting cell or smartphones in their pre-teen and early teen years, parental controls for mobile devices have become more popular with parents. Similar to computer-based parental control software, the mobile control app provide adults with a much higher-level of content filtering and activity monitoring than available in the past or at the router-level in the home. The features available in mobile parental control apps can vary significantly along with the price. Some of the currently available mobile parental control software apps on the market include:

Mobicip Safe Browser Premium – Mobicip Safe Browser was originally designed as a safe browser for the various iDevices on the market (iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch) and uses a content filtering engine to safeguard young people on their mobile devices. The company now offers a version for Windows and Linux devices on an low-cost annual fee basis that provide additional capabilities such as time limiting, behavior monitoring, and website white and blacklisting. The extra features require Apple device users to pay the subscription fee as well (the basic service is available through the iTunes store for a one-time fee for the iOS.

Norton Online Family to Go Beta – Norton Online Family to Go acts a replacement of the web browser on the mobile device and is still free for consumers to install. The application provides online monitoring; content filtering, search and social network monitoring, and email alerts. Norton Premiere is available for a low annual fee and provides a greater number of monitoring reports as well as video monitoring capabilities.

iHound – iHound mobile phone and family tracker provides similar functionality as Mobicip and Norton Online Family; however, it can also be configured to notify parents if their child’s mobile device leaves a pre-designated area using Geofences. The app is available for the iPhone, iPad, and Android enabled devices. The iHound company also advertises the Geofences capability as a social “tool” for those who want to advertise their arrival at pre-designated locations on Foursquare, Twitter, or Facebook.

CellSafety – CellSafety is now supported on both the Blackberry and Android OS’s with the 2.0 version release. There is a “Danger Alerts” message sent to the parent when safety thresholds on the mobile device being monitored have been met.

How Do You Choose Parental Control Software?

When considering what parental control software to install to protect your children, the sheer number of options available on the market can prove a bit overwhelming. Common considerations when selecting what software application to deploy are: cost, features, supported operating systems, quality of software support, software manufacturer reputation, and if there are any recurring fees. Some parents only require the use of a content filter, while others will want to have the security of real-time content and location monitoring. The following are some of the better known parental control software applications available on the market at the time of this writing.

Parental Control Software Applications

NetNanny 2.0 – NetNanny is one of the most well-known parental control software applications on the market. Since the company’s purchase by ContentWatch, Inc., the software has evolved to include real-time content filtering, remote management, time controls, profanity masking, parental alerts and reporting, and instant messenger/chat room monitoring features. The software now supports most of the major computer and mobile device operating systems to include Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, and Android. The cost for the software is on an annual subscription basis with discounts provided for groupings of three computers or mobile devices.

AVG Family Safety – AVG Family Safety is compatible with Microsoft Windows computers and mobile devices running iOS or Windows mobile. Other features of the application include the use of key-stroke technology to monitor the minor-child’s activity in real-time. Based on the AVG database of inappropriate language and terminology known to be used for victimizing individuals online, the program can be configured to notify the responsible adult in real-time via email or SMS text message. Other standard features of the program include content monitoring, social network activity tracking, and Internet time and app management. The AFG family safety software package is priced on an annual subscription basis and generally runs about 30% lower than other main-stream competitors for equivalent service.

K9 Web Protection Browser – K9 Web Protection Browser is designed to support parents who primarily want to employ content filtering technology on their child’s Internet device. The software application supports the Windows,  Mac OS X, Android, and iOS platforms and is considered very efficient at blocking computer malware and port. It does not have a number of the high-end features found in other parental control software packages; however, it does not allow time restrictions, web page block overrides (with a password), and supports more than 70 categories of Internet search that can be blocked on the target computer.

PC Pandora 7.0 – PC Pandora 7.0 is a very capable parental control software application that includes the ability to take webcam shots, computer screenshots, and supports keystroke logging. The most current version of the software package supports remote configuration and log viewing in addition to various local computer operations such as file creation and deletion, websites visited, printed documents and search queries. The cost of the application can run a little higher than competing products; however, it can provide a significant amount of real-time information to parents that are worried about their child getting into mischief while online.

Spector Pro – Spector Pro  is another comprehensive parental control software monitoring suite. It comes in a tad on the high side in price, but is capable of monitoring almost all things that occur on a Windows computer. The software is able to capture screenshots and keystrokes and provides support for Windows XP (32 and 64 bit), Windows Vista, and Windows 7.

McAfee Family Protection – McAfee Family Protection is a moderately priced parental control software package. The software is configured online and provides support for up to three computers on one installation license. McAfee Family Some of the unique features of McAfee Family Protection is blocking explicit music content on iTunes, blocking questionable YouTube videos, and filtering TV and movie listing by the ratings.

How to Keep Children Safe without Parental Control Software

One form of parental control uses no software or hardware. You situate the family PC out in the open, keep an eye on the children’s activity, and talk with them about appropriate behavior. If you feel you need more, there are many choices with a wide range of features. Some parents may choose a full-scale control and monitoring tool for the PC, smartphone, or both. Others may focus on social networking protection. And very occasionally, parents may need a stealth installation of spy software. Check our reviews and make the choice that’s right for you.

Using Parental Control Software as Spyware

One word of caution is that parental control software has been used by disgruntled employees, spouses, or significant others to track the online activity of adults! Although the software is not designed for this purpose and these actions are considered illegal in many countries, in today’s connected world it is a fact of life worth remembering. No longer should a home laptop or desktop computer be left unlocked or unguarded as a prudent physical security measure. A determined hacker or individual can typically find a way around most safe guards if given enough time, but basic security actions will help prevent giving others easy access to your private computer.