Browsers forum: How do I block access to porn sites from my PC?

Greetings and Salutations;
I am sure others may have said this, and I hate to be disappointing, but, the fact of the matter is that you cannot do it. There is no rating system that can be queried to see what the content of a site is, and, there is no way to tell from the domain name. Any wall that would catch porn sites will also block content for pretty much all sites dealing with health issues - which is a net loss.
Remember that the Net is an adult venue, not a children's playground, so, children using it should not be doing so unsupervised. I would suggest that a better course of action then trying to use a sieve to bail water would be to take the following actions:
0) Have a talk with him, and explain that he will likely run across sites on the Net that he should not be dabbling in at that age. Tell him that he just needs to browse away from them. Also, assure him that if he runs across something that he finds disturbing, or needs explanation, that you (or his parents) will be glad to talk to him about them, and he will not be in trouble for stumbling across them.
1) Put the computer he will use in a public place. In the living room, not his bedroom.
2) CHeck the browsing history on a regular basis. If you find too many inappropriate sites in the history log, then, have a talk with him.
3) If he is 13, puberty is starting to stir, so, frankly, he IS going to be interested. However, if he has a good upbringing, and has been taught to treat women as equals, not just objects for sexual gratification, he is more likely than not to be put off by the sites.
4) Unless something is really off, the fact of the matter is that it is unlikely to destroy him to see folks naked, so, again, it gets back to #3 - treating women as equals instead of objects. Frankly, I would rather that a kid see a few naked women on the net then spend too much time on the myriad other sites that spew hatred and bigotry, and, call for violence as the answer to all problems.
5) Remember that if he really wants to go there, he will find a way, and may be good enough that he can cover his tracks so you will never know. It is far better to do the tough thing - which is to talk with him when he has questions about that sort of thing, do it in a non-confrontational manner; and promote communication.
Regards
Dave Mundt

Excellent advice for parenting but not as a reply to the question asked. As posted by many others, there are many ways to prevent a decent portion of explicit sites from popping up - you will never get them all but to say it can't be done is irresponsible. Would you leave your kids home alone? No. You get a babysitter. Can the babysitter protect the kids from everything? Not even close but like many of the tools suggested here, a babysitter is the first line of defense for the children. Parents should use at least one of the many excellent suggestions to help them guard their kids and tell their kids they are using them. Be a parent, not their best friend, be honest, build trust and respect will flow both from child to parent and vice versa.

But you definitely should use at least one of the tools suggested from the many excellent replies.

Within your security settings go to Parental Control and if it is disabled - enable it this way he cannot access any site without your permission as you will have to set a password when you enable these settings.

I'm in the camp that demonizing nudity and sex causes far worse hangups than allowing a kid to satisfy his curiosity. Relationships are hard enough without adding in the concept that our basic biological drives are inherently filthy.

The various parental filters tend to be so fanatically Politically Correct that they block a huge number of sites where both you and he would legitimately want to go. Which makes them a serious hindrance. And, from what I've heard, most tech-savvy kids can find ways around them, anyway.

Since we don't know the kid, we can't tell you how much you can trust him. But, for most kids, treat them with respect and just discuss it with them. Point out how unseemly it is to be surfing those sites at his great-grandparent's place. Point out that those sites are often associated with drive-by browser exploitations, and he should show you respect by not visiting sites that might get your computer infected.

And, as someone else said, don't use the computer as a babysitter. Keep it in a public space. Try to find things you can do together on the computer so that he doesn't have unsupervised time.

Drake

Great idea. But I think that if English language adult sites are blocked, anybody interested in such stuff would try French or Finnish or Indian or Japanese pages and most likely find them unblocked, unless such software is truely multilingual.

Kees

There is a way around most everything if you are a 13yo and motivated. Now being a great grandson makes it a bit tough, but the best way is to have a talk with the boy. I have given hundreds of talks to parents and many of them have tried the filters and blocking devices, problem is once you make it a game the teen wins every time. Remember too that the block is on that machine only, how many devices does your grandson have access to? It's tough to block them all, don't forget to include smartphones, tablets and friends.

You need to teach the boy what is proper use of a computer and what is not, with xxx comes malware, is this your computer? Then you have the right to dictate what he should visit if not for his protection then for yours, explain that to him. He is putting you and your computer at risk with his behavior.

Check them out. It'll solve all your problems. If you use their DNS at your router and block all DNS traffic at the firewall you'll have a reasonably good solution.

You will never succed in blocking porn 100% of the time. Especially as the child grows up and has friends expose him/her to more and more of "THE WORLD". But there are some steps you can take ...

First: Set you browser 'content' to moderate/high safety level. That will block a large majority of true porn sites. There is a lot of good out there on the web, but the bad guys will try to slip past the restrictive controls, etc, and sooner or later the child WILL see something you don't approve of. NetNanny and other 'screeners' work just so well and we found them unnecessary for our two boys when we tried to follow the following tips:

Let the child know you'll be watching what they do on the PC/Laptop ... that will automatically make the child hesitate typing things like "XXX", "Sex", "Adult", etc. ... but remember he/she may indeed get search results you don't approve of anyway (even when searching for info on school homework projects, etc).

Watch what the child is doing on the web ... playing games, conversing with friends, exploring the world, etc. It's pretty simple to 'watch' actually ...
1. Place the PC/Laptop in your living room/family room/den ... where ever YOU spend your free time.
2. Do the expected: Look at/walk by the PC while the kid is using it. And the unexpected: strike up a conversation about what you see on the screen. The real person -to-person interaction is good for both of you!
3. Expect that occasionally, the little twerp may have something you don't like on display. It could be accidental or intentional, but keep calm and use it as a learning lesson. Teach safe browsing (i.e.: viruses, etc) and safe sex, if necessary, but again use the time with your grandchild constructively, as a teaching lesson.
4. Enjoy your grandchild ... make the time on the computer a joint affair when possible. Help him learn how to do an informed/advanced search to zero in on a homework project, etc. You may learn a thing or two yourself.
5. Last but not least, do not use the PC/Laptop as a babysitter.

The child is going to be at your home just so much before he/she grows up and is gone. Relish the time you have & take advantage of it to build a relationship that makes the kid WANT to come to see you ... now and in the nursing home!

Oh, one more thing: Laugh & smile a lot when you're together & give the kid some homemade cookies, a hug, etc. Bet you'll get smiles & hugs back and when you're in 'the home' maybe even some homemade cookies!

why would you want to block porn sites

I install pc for children and teens by adding the adult hoste file from this site work well

it stops most

We used a product called SafeEyes to accomplish this task, as well as monitor/control our adolescent son's internet activities. He has finally outgrown the need for this type of thing now that he is turning 17, but for the last 3 years it gave us pretty good control over what sites he could visit, as well as what hours of the day he could go online at all.

I'm not certain what the "best" strategy might be for YOUR children, but I have a strong, negative, knee-jerk reaction to this "big brother/warden" approach to parenting.

I can't help but recall reading how many native tribes "teach" their young, usually WITHOUT words or explanations. The elders tell stories and DEMONSTRATE proper behaviour with the clear expectation that they will be listened to and their examples followed... and, they NEVER answer the question "why?" It is a great respect for the children to allow them to discover FOR THEMSELVES the "truths" of the world. It is THEIR life and my native friends believe they have a right to live it without unnecessary interference.

Certainly, the elders (parents) prevent the kids from doing something that will bring them irreparable harm. But viewing "porn" is highly unlikely to do that to anyone. Going to great lengths to "lock down" the kids' environment only broadcasts the PARENT'S paranoia and lack of ease with life and their own sexuality.

Dear Marti,

Do you have a firewall in your setup? Thats also a place where you can define the rules for blacklist, etc..

I use Microsoft Family Security - free software (http://www.microsoft.com/security/family-safety/default.aspx#Overview)

and DynDNS.com but you need to set it up on the router or network card settings.

aside from all the psycho, social, moral babble here....take the good advice for the technical solutions people have offered here.

Ultimately you have to personally be the enforcer. I have kids that I monitor personally in my house when they are on the computer. I am always or another family adult is in their physical presence when they are on the computer. And that is how it will be until they are 18.

Oh many of you will say that is physically impossible...but it isn't. You schedule your life so it is. That is "parenting".

Then use security so they cannot log onto the computers. There are a variety of ways you could do that like using supervisor, hard drive, bios passwords etc. or physically disabling the computer.

Obviously kids cannot be sheltered 100% because they will be at friends' houses etc out of your supervision.

But also you have to have the "internet talk" with your kids. Don't make is scary or puritanical. Male it practical. The more you hide from them the more dangerous curiosity they have.