positronic

As a computer store owner / tech I'll pass on a few programs that work well with a Windows based computer to help protect your kids. For internet filtering K9 Web Protection works great and is free for home use. Porn is easily accessible and I've known kids who have been ruined by exposure to it at an early ag, and, men who have succumbed to it at the cost of their marriage (wife's can password protect it so their husbands also won't be tempted in this area - like my wife did at my request due to my poor self-discipline).

Put a .com at the end of this "k9webprotection" as I'm not able to post URL's yet.

Also, for time monitoring I'd recommend Computertime. You can easily set how many hours a day a person can use the computer, time range that they can use it, days of the week it can be used, and have profiles for multiple people with different settings for each. So for parents who're working when their kids get home the software can be set to block their usage until a set time. For parents of multiple kids that want to use the computer it eliminates arguements over usage and also telling them to get off and do homework or go to bed as you can set the time to have them get off. For instance, to give an idea of its flexibility, you can set a 2 hour time limit in a day but during any one period they can only be on 1 hour and have to wait at least 15 minutes before logging on again. I believe it is $49 for up to 6 computers. Note: we play a lot of games on the computers (we have 6) and neither one of these causes problems with the games.

Put a .com at the end of this "softwaretime" for the web address.

Patrick

dad_of_son

I have been using kidswatch for a long time. It was worked out very well. You can set up a profile for each user (Windows XP) and set the times allowed to log in, as well as set up the number of hours per day. It can also e-mail you time useage and web-sites visited. Price is about $40 or $50 per PC. I bought two licenses for it. It has never caused any problems with Windows. I'd buy another if needed.

Digital Parents

A company in the UK called dt3 (dt3.com) provide an onsite service where they install the renowned security software Netintelligence, but are also able to offer other home IT services that you might be interested in. My understanding is that this is great software in being able to understand what your kids are up to.

In addition to these paid for services there are a number of organisations who have a variety of tips and information on keeping children safe online. There is some information on parental controls but they are full of other useful information, try Child Net International, Wired Safety and The Internet Watch Foundation.