You Asked
How can I lock my Internet access so my kids don’t access adult material? — Devica, San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago

Marshall Answered
The first step in controlling your kids’ access to adult material is to control your kids’ access to the computer(s) in your home. You do that by creating separate accounts on the computer – one for you, and one for each kid (or the kids as a group). That way, in your account, you can access anything you want and keep the kids out of sensitive documents, and in the kids’ account you can completely control what happens.

Once you do that, then you password protect your account to keep the kids out, and teach the kids how to log into their account. You also set up the screen saver on your account so that, if you leave it idle for a few minutes, it automatically locks your account.

Having done that, you can now put all kinds of restrictions on the kids’ account. This page from Microsoft describes the different parental controls available in the Vista operating system: “access to web content, time limits, access to specific games, and access to specific programs.” Your Web browser also has controls available in the “settings” section.

Beyond that, you can install filtering software that takes a more active role in blocking adult content and porn. Dozens of services are available. Here is one of them: