Sams Teach Yourself Internet and Web Basics All in One

Censoring Web Content

You've probably heard that there are programs that can control what your kids see online. So why didn't I just mention them in the first place and save you all this “online rules” crud?

Well, it's debatable how effective these programs are. First, most are really focused on the Web and aren't much protection elsewhere, such as in chat or email. And most censoring programs—erring properly on the cautious side, I suppose—inevitably censor out totally benign stuff that you or your kids might find valuable. (You'll see an example of this later, with Content Advisor.)

Also, these programs might filter out sexual content, depictions of violence, and profanity, but what about ugly ideas? For example, these programs generally do ...