Web Resources

Jennifer and Seth Moland-Kovash, review editors

Internet Security
As parents and church communities strive to faithfully raise children in the twenty-first century, some challenges are the same as they have always been and some are new. Specifically, given this column's topic, we want to address the changing challenges that parents face with regard to Internet security. Don't have children of your own? While you might not be setting rules or guidelines, being able to have a conversation with nieces, nephews, students, neighbors, and others can build relationships and allow for knowledge and information to be shared — both ways!

As with all aspects of raising children, communication and knowledge are the keys. Know what your children (or the children of your congregation) are doing online and set appropriate boundaries. Instant messaging (IM) may be a good way for your kids to socialize and even collaborate on homework assignments, but limits are appropriate. These limits can include the amount of time each day and the hours of the day (for example, no IM-ing after 9 p.m.). Some filtering software (see below) will allow all online chats to be recorded so you will be able to read them later. Make the decision appropriate for your family and make sure everyone understands the rules.

Many of the same questions and conversations apply to the use of cellular telephones and texting (while acknowledging that these technologies are not exactly Web resources). If and when your teen or preteen has a cell phone, you should be setting clear boundaries and rules about phone usage and text usage. These boundaries include payment plans as well as the time and usage questions laid out above.

del.icio.us (pronounced as "delicious") is a social bookmarking web service for storing, sharing, and discovering web bookmarks. Visit Lutheran Partners' del.icio.us site at del.icio.us/lutheranpartners for more web resources.

Do the children in your life use Facebook, MySpace, Xanga, or other social networking sites? Again, they can be great tools. Our own congregation has a Youth Group Facebook group, and we as pastors communicate with adults and kids alike through Facebook. But look together with your children at their profile. Guide them to make appropriate decisions about privacy settings as well as the information they share. Would anything on their profile reveal their identity to a predator? Are there pictures of home and school that would be identifiable? Is there too much information with regard to address or phone number? Again, talk about these things and help your child make the appropriate decisions. Beyond safety, be aware of the potential for cyberbullying.

One tool that many parents use to help them to protect their children and to enforce the rules is filtering software. Many choices are available on the market. One very helpful overview and collection of reviews of some of the most popular choices is available at TopTenREVIEWS, www.internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com. This comparison chart and similar research can help you make the appropriate decision for your family and for your computer setup.

Here are a few key questions and definitions that might help navigate the choices:

• Make sure you invest in filtering software that will work with your computer and browser. Some filters will only work with Microsoft Internet Explorer. If you or your family use the popular Mozilla Firefox browser, for example, not all filters will do the job.
• Decide whether you require filtering software that can block or filter chat sites, IM portals, and other specialized ways of interacting on the Web.
• Personal information blocking is an important feature for all of us. This prevents Web sites from collecting your personal information (name, address, credit card information) in automated ways that you wouldn't otherwise know about.
• "Dynamic categorization" may be a helpful feature. This allows a site to be filtered not only based on its address and what may be available there at one time, but the filter also changes as the site changes. For example, cnn.com may be completely appropriate at one time of the day but may be inappropriate at another time when the top news story of the day changes.
• As with most things, you get what you pay for, but also pay attention to how customizable the filter list is.
• The primary way these filters work is via keywords. How customizable is the keyword list? For your child and your family, some words may be objectionable for some that are fine for others, and vice versa. Use these filters as tools and make them work for you.
• Check into the overrides available. Again, these tools are no substitute for an active and involved parent. Your child may be doing legitimate research for science class and be unable to access important information because of keyword blocks. How easily can you open things up to allow legitimate use?

The key in all of this, whether in filtering software, in social networking, or in chatting and IM-ing, is to use the Internet as a tool for research, communication, and community building. Parents, pastors, and congregations are still responsible for raising children in the twenty-first century and for teaching them how to protect themselves and to make faithful decisions. Opportunities and tools are available to help you do that in this technological world. The same basic tools of rules, trust, and communication serve as they always have.