Content Filtering

Content Filtering

Back when I was a lad, school was about books and libraries, notepads of paper and pencils. For good or bad, today’s world for our children is a far cry from those simple times we remember, with the birth of the computer age internet use for school children has rapidly increased. Children now rely on the internet for homework, socialising and entertainment. It is reported that 98% of UK school children now have access to the internet either at home, at school or a friend’s house how on earth as parents do we protect them and restrict the content available to them. *

Graphic images of adult content and violence, strong language and racist hate speeches are certainly not the sort of materials I want my children stumbling over when using the internet. As a strong advocate of internet safety and a devoted parent I continually remind my children about the dangers lurking in our family PC, but I also wanted to have some control on what content is readily available to them.

Internet content filtering software can block access to inappropriate content by looking for keywords or checking against a list of known sites. Some internet browsers allow you to create a list of accepted sites and block access to all other sites.

If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer you can use its Content Advisor to restrict access to websites.

Either create a list of acceptable sites or you can set specific criteria that will rate sites according to their content.

How do I enable Content Advisor?

Simply open Internet Explorer > Select Tools a Internet options > Content tab > Click ENABLE

Find out more information on using the Content Advisor

All content filtering systems have their limitations so it is important users understand them before relying on any system to block inappropriate content. Obviously we can’t sensor the entire internet but we can have some control on what material comes into our homes.

*Results compiled by the London School of Economics - UK Children Go Online