Thursday Thoughts For Parents: 05/01/08
May 1, 2008 10:31 amParents, Saturday night, we provided a handout for parents about popular internet filters and monitoring software. In case you weren’t there or lost is, here is the info:
Cybersitter (www.cybersitter.com $40) This service has many features to block websites, emails, IMs online chatting, etc, and also has the ability to scan your hard drive for objectionable material. This product also includes a basic email–filtering feature, although this feature wouldn’t replace a typical spam filtering product. Cybersitter can record both sides of IM sessions, as well as log all sites visited and any violations. This information can then be e-mailed to you in a daily activity report.
Safe Eyes (www.internetsafety.com/safe-eyes/ $50-$55) – A highly rated filter, this service logs websites visited and IM sessions by each user, and you can share your logs with others so they can see what you (as the administrator) are viewing. This product sends alerts via email, text message and telephone calls when someone attempts to access a forbidden website. This is one of the few filters compatible with a Mac, although reviews mention that this product can crash frequently.
Covenant Eyes (www.covenanteyes.com $85/year for one license) – This service monitors and records all web activity and scores all sites according to the maturity of the content. This information is emailed in a report to the accountability partner(s) of your choice.
BSafe (http://www.bsafehome.com/ $50-$70) - This is a highly rated filter which seems to be geared towards helping families. This product includes a time-of-day internet restriction, and filters and logs IM conversations. Like other services, it also offers remote notification and management. This product does not allow users to keep the same profile automatically when installing on multiple computers, so this may create extra work.
Web Watcher (www.webwatcherkids.com/ $97) – This product includes a website monitor and blocker, a chat recorder, key logger, and an automated screenshot capture tool. The product is more oriented towards monitoring than accountability. Currently, the filter software is only available for PCs.
If you have experience with any of these products or advice for other parents, please leave a comment!
Categories: Thursday Thoughts For Parents
One Response to “Thursday Thoughts For Parents: 05/01/08”
We use SeeNoEvil (http://www.seenoevilonline.com/ $39). It does all you’ve mentioned above except it does not run on Mac. The reason I like it is it blocks images. We had Safe Eyes, but if for instance we used Google images to get a picture of something very innocent, we would often see not-so-innocent images. SeeNoEvil blocks the image and requires the parent to come over and unblock an image if wanted.
Windows Vista allows you to monitor users time on the computer, breaking it down to how long they were on particular programs or websites. It allows you to limit what times they can use the computer, as well as how much time they can spend in a day.
I would not use Vista exclusively, but it helps me see how my children bide their time, especially during school.
Care to comment?