Privacy, Security & Virus Information

Parental Controls and Cyber Bullying: What Every Parent
Should Know

Many technological advancements that appear to solve problems also bring with them new problems as well. For example, the Internet has provided us with unsurpassed communications devices such as Instant Messaging, social networking website and electronic bulletin boards. However, these devices come with a catch - they are great tools for criminals looking to disseminate information and steal your identity.

These communication tools can also be abused with spam and the spreading of viruses that can take over your PC as well as lies and hateful messages, which can take over someone's life, especially if the victim is a young person.

Today, many children don't actually leave their classmates and conflicts behind at the classroom. By using computers, text pagers, and cell phone, children are able to be in touch with other people at all time and can use this technology to bully, pester and harm innocent victims.

While it is impossible to completely eliminate cyber bullying from your child's life, McAfee® SecurityCenter can provide parents with the tool necessary to protect their children from the threat of cyber bulling.

If employed properly, McAfee Internet Security Suite and McAfee Total ProtectionT products both come with parental controls that can help limit the access your children might have to objectionable material whenever they go online. McAfee's goal is to give you piece of mind when allowing your child to use the Internet or any other technology.

Here are some suggestions for helping with cyber bullying: firstly, limit the child's time online; second, block access to inappropriate web sites; thirdly, use keyword filtering; and finally, use image analysis filtering.

Many parents are concerned with the amount of time their child spends online. The less time your child spends online, the less chance that they are going to be susceptible to online bullying. McAfee offers a way to protect you child by installing "Internet Time Limits". McAfee SecurityCenter enables you to block out times of the day in which the child cannot use the Internet. This way you will have complete control over your child's online activities.

In addition to limiting the amount of time your children spend online, you can also limit the web sites that they visit by using the "Block Web Sites" feature, where you simply type in the web site addresses (also known as URLs). For example: www.myspace.com.

Also available to parents is the "Keywords" feature that can filter out unwanted language and rude comments from e-mail and instant messaging. Another tool for parents to employ is the image analysis, this can prevent inappropriate photos being displayed to children.

Nothing can replace active parenting when it comes to dealing with cyber bullying. Cyber bullying is a serious challenge to protecting our children. Make sure you are always aware of your child's online activities. Be sure that you child doesn't become another victim - help install computer software that protects them from the harms associated with the Internet. Of course, these tools have a limited scope regarding the prevention of cyber bullying.

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