Internet Parental Control

In today’s world, our children have increasing access to Internet-connected devices; yet, though lack of education, very few parents are able to control the content they are exposed to and how long they spend on the Internet. Whilst we can’t protect them completely from being exposed to Internet ‘nasties’, there are some things that everyone can do in their own home, to minimise the risk.

OpenDNS: Think of DNS or Directory Naming Services as the telephone book for the Internet. When you want to browse a page, your computer needs to know the IP address for that page, which is retrieved from DNS Servers. OpenDNS allows you to restrict which site categories are allowed into your home, thereby reducing the chance that your child may be exposed to unsavoury sites. This is a free service for home users, and can be setup very quickly by making a change to your Internet router. To sign up, visit https://opendns.com

Microsoft Family Safety: For users of Microsoft Operating Systems, Microsoft provides a free service that helps you control the sites that your child has access to, how much time they can spend on the Internet and the times that they are allowed to use the Internet. Guides for configuring this service can be found at http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/set-up-family#set-up-family=windows-10

Apple Mac Parental Controls: Just as Microsoft has their Family Safety service, Apple also includes parental controls in their Operating Systems. You can find instructions for configuring parental controls on your MAC here: https://support.apple.com/ kb/PH18571?locale=en_GB

Router Controls: Most fibre routers will allow you to setup profiles for different devices, meaning you can turn off Internet access for your children at a particular time of day, limit the websites they are allowed to visit and even control how much bandwidth they are allowed to consume. Talk to you Internet Service Provider if you want additional information on how to configure your router for these services.

Education: Schools will try and educate our children around good Internet habits and this needs to be continued at home. There are some great resources to help with this at https://www.netsafe.org.nz/advice/parenting/

There are obviously many more tools out there to help monitor and control your child’s Internet usage, but I’ve found the above the most commonly used and easiest to setup for parents who are not entirely “tech savvy”.

Join us for services throughout the month:

St Chad’s, Orewa Sunday 8:00am and 9:30am Wednesday 9:30am

Christ Church, Waiwera 1st Sunday 11:15am

Holy Trinity, Silverdale 2nd & 4th Sundays 9:00am

For further information phone 426 4952 or chadorewa@vodafone.co.nz www.hbcanglicanparish.co.nz “Looking forward to a fun filled Summer”