Safe surfing

The internet can be a scary place - for parents and children alike. It can be scary for parents because they know that children can stumble onto some troublesome content, and it can be scary for children because they don't know where to go.

Yet the pull of the internet is irresistible for children. So the question for parents is not whether their children should use the internet - but how.

With perhaps a little money, some time, and knowledge of where to start, you can create a child-friendly internet space on your PC at home.

The first place to start is with filtering software, because no matter which sites you restrict your children to, if you don't have filtration software that prevents them from stumbling across pornography, you'll soon be in trouble.

Among the many filtering packages on the market, several stand out in most overviews of filtering software.

NetNanny (http://www.netnanny.com) is praised for its simplicity, thoroughness and flexibility, allowing even novice parents to ensure that the racier side of the internet does not reach their children. Another package worth considering is Cyber Patrol (http://www.surfcontrol.com), which filters both websites and e-mail.

Once you've set up filtering software, it's a good idea to configure your Web browser so that it automatically points to a child-friendly site.

To do this using Internet Explorer, you just load the site you want your Web browser to start off with, open the Tools menu, click Internet Options, and then click the Use Current button.

There are now many child-friendly sites on the internet that you can point your browser to, and some of them are so all-encompassing that children may never need to leave the confines of one friendly cyber place.

Any one of the sites featured here will entertain and educate your children, and they'll give you the peace of mind that comes from knowing they're not getting into trouble online.