THE Internet, as we all know, has its good and bad side. One downside that should worry parents is pornography.

There are other concerns. Instant Messengers can be used by stalkers or sexual predators. Internet chatrooms like IRC are virtual bar rooms where strangers make “friends” with unsuspecting targets. Social Networking sites such as Friendster and Facebook offer an even bigger threat if your child’s profile contains sensitive information—addresses, contact information or places they often go to.

Online gaming and chatting could be problems, too, since they tend to become vices.

The first type of solution is Parental Control or Internet Filtering Software, installed on a Mac or PC to filter websites. These have been around since the late ’90s and have thus matured to near the complexity of anti-virus software.

Net Nanny (Netnanny.com) is a PC Mag’s Editor’s Choice Awardee, and comes with a plethora of features. You can list sites allowed and not allowed. It also works with popular Search Engines’ “Safe Search” options to ensure kids do not accidentally end up seeing porn.

There are detailed reporting tools: Instant Messaging conversations are logged so you can read them afterward; and you can even manage your home PC remotely from, say, your office. You can limit usage after a preset time, set up profiles for individual users in the household and even limit the type of software, such as games, kids can install.

The downside is that it needs to be installed in each computer, and with households having one PC per person these days, it can be expensive—$28-$70 a pop.

If this is your choice, just Google for “parental control software.” You can download free trial versions and when you’re ready, buy the registration key with credit card over the Internet.

You may already have it

If you are using Windows Vista Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium or Ultimate, you already have Parental Control features that extend from browsing to gaming. After logging in using an account with Administrator privileges, go to Start > Control Panel > User Accounts > Set up Parental Controls.

Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard also has the ability to check websites before they load for content, as well as log instant messengers, websites visited and applications used. There are also time limits to force kids to use the computer within a schedule.

The solution requires the implementation and understanding of “user accounts,” essentially allowing a single computer to have a different “profile” per user. You’ll need a few minutes of study, but it’s well worth the effort, and you’ll get to use underutilized features already paid for.

Block at the source

But what if there are too many computers in the house to tweak, or households with teenagers or older, where a civil war could erupt should you even try to touch their computers?

If your house has a network (with or without WiFi) that allows Internet access to a number of computers at once, you probably own a router. Read the manual and chances are it will have website-blocking functionality among other neat features built in, accessible via your browser and protected by a password.

Finally, there is OpenDNS.com. The least intrusive, most comprehensive and arguably the best solution, offering protection while improving your surfing speed and overall Internet experience as well. OpenDNS is a lot of things, chief of which is a free service that aims to help improve surfing speed.

Since its inception and raving success worldwide, it has added Membership functions which let you tweak your network’s access to your heart’s delight. Website monitoring, which lets you choose categories like “Hate/Discrimination,” “Tasteless,” “Nudity,” and so on, is just one of its many security features, chief of which is the ability to protect everyone in your network from “phishing”—a sophisticated form of criminal activity where users are fooled to think they’re logging in services such as their bank’s to steal their passwords. You cannot protect yourself too much against such things.

What’s best is all users in your network are forced to play within the rules you set, and it’s all free to use. It can be quite overwhelming to learn, however, but there are tutorials and even YouTube videos made by fans of the service to teach you.

The result? Complete peace of mind while you know your kid isn’t surfing where he shouldn’t be, and meeting people he shouldn’t.