we have broadband at home so the kids do tend to use the internet
whenever they choose. they are aged 8 and 10. I have google search
switched to safest mode but I am interested in portals that contain
the entire use of the computer to child-safe sites.

do you know of any such systems and what are the advantages and
disadvantages.
tia
michael

---

Request for Question Clarification by easterangel-ga on 31 Mar 2003 15:36 PST

Hi! What do you mean by the statement:

"I am interested in portals that contain the entire use of the
computer to child-safe sites."

Thanks.

Hello mickey_one-ga,

Easterangel-ga requested clarification, but I believe I understand
what you mean.  It seems that you are looking for a starting point
that limits the entire use of the Internet to the viewing of
child-safe sites.

I think that easterangel-ga was confused by your use of the word
"portals".  Portals are web sites that serve as gateways to the rest
of the web, such as these:

"Computers > Internet > On the Web > Web Portals"
Google Directory
http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Internet/On_the_Web/Web_Portals/?tc=1

There are children's web sites similar to these portals, such as
Yahooligans ( http://www.yahooligans.com/ ).  However, you have
indicated that SafeSearch on Google is not enough for you --
presumably because your children could still find problematic material
on other sites.  So, unless your browser was entirely limited to safe
pages such as Yahooligans, I think you would not be satisfied.

Therefore, I believe that what you want is a browser that gives access
only to child-friendly sites, or prevents access to non-child-friendly
sites, to the extent it is technically possible.

There are several "children's browsers" on the market.  Three of them
-- ChiBrow, Children's Desktop and Browser, and KidSplorer -- are
listed on the following Google Directory page:

"Computers > Software > Shareware > Windows > Utilities > Security >
Parental Control"
Google Directory
http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Software/Shareware/Windows/Utilities/Security/Parental_Control/?il=1

Other children's browsers are listed here:

"Ages 9-12 Intel - Browsers"
Tucows: Tukids
http://exp.tukids.tucows.com/win95nt/9-12/browser912.html

I would suggest that you take some time to look over the descriptions
of these browsers on the sites of the companies that sell them.  (The
links from Tucows are available if you click on the name of a
particular product.  Please let me know if you are unable to find the
page for a product that you are interested in.)  You can use the
following review, of ChiBrow, as a guide for criteria that are most
important to you -- for instance, whether you can decide what sites to
include or exclude, or whether you can review your children's e-mail.

"ChiBrow"
Internet-Filters.net
http://www.internet-filters.net/chibrow.html

I should note that even ChiBrow links to a review that, while
generally favorable, mentions a drawback to the program – the
potential difficulties of running it on a computer that parents also
use.

"Kid Browsers", by Edward Mendelson, FamilyPC (April 2001)
ChiBrow
http://www.chibrow.com/news/familypc.html

In most cases, you can try out a particular program to see if you and
your children like it.  ChiBrow seems like a good place to start,
since it appears to be one of the most popular programs; but perhaps
the factors most important to you will lead you to another program.

I hope that this information is helpful.

- justaskscott-ga


[Normally, in this space, I include my search strategy.  My computer
crashed before I could mark down the strategy, and I simply cannot
recall what search terms I used to find these sites.  But I can say
that a search for "children's browser" or "children's browsers" on
Google would be a good way to start, if you wanted to get additional
information.]

Child Safe browsers are good, but they kinda limit the internet way
too much, the best thing to do is to buy a internet filter software
such as Cyber Patrol or Net Nanny. You can find more by searching it
on google.ca . But if you want to save some money and since your kids
are aged 8 and 10, you can use a proxy server (Bess) to filter out bad
websites. N2H2 does a decent job on filtering. You can visit
http://www.atomintersoft.com/products/alive-proxy/proxy-list/bess/ .
The recommended server is, 199.92.127.67:8080 .

Just go to your Internet Explorer, then 
Tools --> Internet Options
Connections Tab --> Lan Settings --> Check the USE Proxy Server
Type in: 199.92.127.67 Port: 8080

Hope you understand! 

-Bruce