If your children are like most, they spend a great deal of time surfing the net, playing their favorite game, chatting on instant message, and using the internet as a learning tool. But here are some disturbing facts. Did you know that 1 in 5 children between the ages of 10 and 17 will be solicited sexually online? Alarming! Do you have time to constantly supervise your children's internet activity? Of course not, but that's why you need internet filtering for home and family.

The internet is like the largest interactive reference book in the entire world. And although there is plenty of excellent information there are also sites that are not meant for children to view because they contain inappropriate material. Using internet filtering for your home and family can make sure your children never see these sites, and it let's you relax just a little, because after you can have a look at the logs and see exactly where they've been. What can parental internet filtering do for you? Plenty! It's like having your own personal internet nanny.

Web Surfing

Internet filtering software is configured by you, so you decide what the parameters are for your children's viewing and then the software will take it from there. That's very convenient if you have children of different ages in the home.

Some filters use a huge database that resides on your computer to determine if a site should be blocked, while other filters will examine the content. The software you choose should allow you to override the software's decision because sometimes sites that shouldn't be blocked can become blocked.

Managing Time

Internet filtering for your home and family won't just filter out the bad sites that they shouldn't be visiting, it will also allow you to manage just how much time your children spend on the internet, and let's face it almost all kids are spending too much time surfing. Again you as the parent set the rules on just how many hours they can access the net and even when and during what period of the day or evening. And you can configure different profiles for different users.

Manage Content

The internet filtering will create a log of which sites your children have visited. It's like having your own personal spy on your computer. Later you can check the logs and see were they've been and even for how long. Many of these programs will log every keystroke typed as well as record all instant messaging conversations. Finally you get control back.

There are a few excellent parental filtering programs on the market such as NetNanny. These software programs that filter where your children visit are like a nanny following their every move and keeping them safe from online predators.

The package you choose needs to integrate not just with the search engine but also with MSN and other instant messaging programs. It should also have some type of safety so that the kids cannot turn it off. And just as your nanny would report to you about what type of day the children had, so should your internet nanny. The report should be in-depth enough to allow you to know exactly what your children have been up to.

The internet is a whole new frontier and you certainly don't want to hinder your children's ability to explore and learn, but if you want them to do it safely you need to invest in internet filtering for you home and family. Then you can relax and let the nanny do her job.