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Buying Guide: Child-Proof Your Computer
Contents
- Child-Proof Your Computer
- Net Nanny 6.0
- OnlineFamily.Norton
- Safe Eyes 5.0
Big-kid parental control systems like Net Nanny 6.0, OnlineFamily.Norton and Safe Eyes 5.0 assume yours kids have full access to the programs and data on your computer. They impose limitations on top of this full access to keep the kids out of trouble. Kids can't visit porn sites, can't play computer after midnight, can't launch Quicken, can't chat online with perverts, and so on. These products aren't necessarily appropriate for the smallest computer users. A kid-friendly total environment like Hoopah Kidview Computer Explorer 6, KidZui 5.0, or Peanut Butter PC 3.0 protects your programs and files while allowing tech-toddlers a reasonable amount of freedom to play and learn on the computer.
KidZui lets kids visit over two million Web sites that have been checked and approved by experts. Hoopah does a better job of providing sites appropriate to each kid's age—it even changes its interface as kids get older—but its collection is much, much smaller. Peanut Butter PC offers an online list online of kid-friendly sites but you, the parent, must pick and choose which sites your kids can visit. Kids over a certain age get content-filtered full Internet access in Hoopah; all sites are allowed except those blocked by the built-in content filter.
Parents using Peanut Butter PC or Hoopah can let kids run specific programs from outside the protected environment, but this ability comes with its own dangers. Putting a browser on the permitted list can give the kids unlimited Internet access. Also, if you add any program that uses a standard file-open dialog it's possible (though unlikely) that the kids could completely break out of the protected environment. KidZui sidesteps this problem by including tons of games and Web sites within the protected environment but forbidding any outside programs.
In Hoopah and KidZui youngsters enjoy limited communication with friends. Hoopah users can receive e-mail from a parent-defined list of senders and can send pre-defined e-cards. KidZui users can "friend" other users, see how others have tagged content items, and send interesting sites, videos, or photos to their friends. There's no personal information transmitted, just a pointer to the item of interest.
These products are great for parents who want to let toddlers use the computer "just like mommy and daddy", but most kids will chafe at the restricted environment once they reach school age. At that point, consider moving up to one of the more traditional parental control solutions—Safe Eyes and Net Nanny both have significant updates coming soon.
Products mentioned in this roundup:
Hoopah Kidview Computer Explorer 6
$39.95 direct
Kids at the high end of its age range will chafe at Hoopah's restrictions and cartoonish appearance. Its kid-safe e-mail isn't practical for anything but very short messages. Still, it will keep the toddlers out of your files and limit them to age-appropriate surfing.
KidZui 5.0
$7.95 direct
KidZui lets youngsters surf the Web, play games, view videos and interact socially online, "just like Mommy and Daddy." The protected environment is extremely lively, but don't expect your kids to still like it once they've started using computers in school.
Net Nanny 6.0
$39.99 direct
Net Nanny does everything a parental-control utility should do. It also offers unique features like secure Web-traffic filtering and ESRB-based game control. Balancing privacy and security, it can record IM conversations only if they seem dangerous. E-mail alerts and full remote configuration let you manage wherever you are.
OnlineFamily.Norton
Free
This free Web-based product has everything you'd expect in a parental-control system and more. It blocks bad sites, controls time on the computer, supervises chat, and even watches social network use on all your PCs and Macs. Settings are stored in the cloud, making remote configuration and reporting simple.
Peanut Butter PC 3.0
$24.95 direct
Peanut Butter PC's two aims are to amuse your kids at the computer and keep them from doing any harm to your files. Though this version includes more interactive elements, it doesn't strike me as exciting enough for a toddler, and a kid could still accidentally break out of its protection.
Safe Eyes 5.0
$49.95 direct
Safe Eyes 5 does everything you'd expect a parental control utility to do and more. Its Web-based protection covers up to three computers (PC or Mac) and allows remote management from a browser. And this is one tough cookie?the kids won't break its protection.