Protecting children from online pornography
 

 

Pornography is nothing new, but as the internet makes it easier to find – even accidentally – it's sensible to take a few precautions to help minimize the chances your child will come across something you'd rather they didn't see.

  • There is plenty of technical help out – like automatic filters and child-friendly search engines – but it will help if you can be open with your child about the internet's no go areas. Accepting that it's natural for them to be curious about what's out there means its more likely that they're going to talk to you if they seem something inappropriate.

 

  • Spam email can sometimes contain pornographic material, so it's advisable that you use a spam filter that weeds out all unsolicited correspondence. Don't let your children use their private email address to register for anything online as that's how spammers harvest email addresses. Set up a family email address for online use so that the inevitable spam will be sent to an email address you can monitor.
 
Checklist
  1. Search for appropriate sites for you and your children to surf together.
  2. Check with your internet service provider (ISP) and browser for any filtering and parental controls already on offer.
  3. Use filtering software to limit access to inappropriate sites. Set it up at the right level for each member of the family and keep downloading the updates.
  4. Use an ISP that offers content in a 'walled garden'. These are monitored areas and are a good way of ensuring the content is child friendly.

Use child friendly search engines like Yahoo Kids. Don''t assume all child-friendly search engines to be 100 per cent safe. There have been instances of some advertising porn sites. So take an active role in your children's internet searches.
If you''re still concerned regularly check the history folder on your browser as it contains a list of recently visited sites. It is easy to accidentally stumble across pornography, especially as many pornographic sites use innocent words in their addresses (e.g. Whitehouse, Barbie, etc.) So don''t jump to conclusions if the history folder lists a porn site. If you discover sites that have been accidentally opened, delete the address from the history folder. 
Unwanted email, or spam, is a very popular with online porn companies. They can be very difficult to filter out so it''s a good idea to check the email inbox and delete it before surfing the internet with you children. Never reply to unwanted email or SPAM even to unsubscribe from receiving further emails as this is often a trick to confirm your email address.