Child blocks and chat rooms

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Child blocks

'These don't always work,' claims Parents Online. 'Most fail to pick up pictures. You also have to do your bit and that means being aware of what they're doing.'

Parents Online recommends sites or 'safe communities' specifically for children that are monitored and regulated. Try www.gridclub.com for seven to 11-year-olds.

What's a Search Engine?

Imagine Yellow Pages, a dictionary and an encyclopaedia rolled into one, that's like a search engine. Log on to the search engine's site and it will show a search box where you type in the key words for the subject you want to know about. This gives a list of sites which you can enter until you find what you want. The most popular search engine is www.google.co.uk.

Child-friendly Search Engine

'There are special search engines for children that filter out the wrong kind of material that general search engines might pick up,' says the Internet Watch Foundation.
Try: www.safekids.com and www.yahooligans.com.

Which sites are they visiting?

You can check where your child has logged on to under the History tag. On Outlook Express, for example, it's
under Window on the menu bar at the top of the page.

Chat rooms

It's a 'room' where you talk to one person or a group of people. Unlike chat rooms, you can only join in if one of the others invites you. It's mostly used by teenagers but warn them to be on their guard with newcomers introduced by others in the group.

There are thousands of chat rooms online, divided into moderated and unmoderated sites, explains Internet expert James Carr-Jones. 'Moderated ones are 'policed' and have rules. Unmoderated ones don't.'

Check which chat rooms your child visits. Good sites usually have sections for parents. The site should also set out its moderation policy.'For a well-moderated chat room, log on to www.habbo.com.

- Next: what are social networking sites?