Question:  Aaron, I have kids and I need to know how to make sure they don’t go to the bad places on the Internet.  What can I do?

Answer:  A really good free way to make sure your kids don’t go to the bad sites on the Internet is by enabling Content Advisor through Internet Explorer.  Content Advisor is a rating system in which you can enable or disable certain types of content from being able to be viewed.

To enable Content Advisor, open Internet Explorer, click on Tools at the top menu, and then click on Internet Options.  Once the Internet Properties box comes up, click on the Content tab.  You will see where you can enable Content Advisor and then change the settings.

Once you click on the enable button for Content Advisor you will be prompted for a password, and to put in a password hint.  It is highly recommended that you put in a password hint because if you forget the password, it will be very difficult to reset it.  The password will be used throughout the configuration and to allow you make exceptions to the approved web sites as well.

By default, you can configure Content Advisor to filter for Language, Nudity, Sex, and Violence.  Each category has many levels in which you can configure.  You can even override these settings by specifying which sites you want to always allow, or always deny.

The way Content Advisor works is by webmasters putting a rating of their site in the HTML code that makes up their web site.  Under the General tab you can configure Content Advisor to allow or disallow web sites that have no rating.  This comes in handy if you are concerned that some sites may slip through the rating system.

To enabling a broader range of rating systems, you can click on “Find Rating Systems” under the General tab.  This will take you to Microsoft’s web site that will help you expand Content Advisor’s capabilities to other rating systems that may be used as well.

I haven’t found any really good software out there to keep kids safe on the Internet.  If anyone has any good leads, please let me know so I can pass it on to my customers who wish to help their kids surf safely.  I did find two sites that will offer a wealth of knowledge on the subject.  You can find more information at www.icra.org and www.safesurf.com.