There is no doubt that adding a computer to any home opens up a whole new world to kids and teenagers. You can instantly have access to a billions books, dictionaries, encyclopaedia sets and more with a click of a button. With as wonderful as a home computer and the Internet is, there are threats out there that enjoy causing havoc. Computers can be great learning tools, but in the wrong, inexperienced hands, they can lead to tragedy. It is for this reason, and a million more, that people purchase and install software to monitor computer programs around the clock. Almost all of these programs come with settings that allow for unfettered access for parents and monitored access for kids and teens. Let’s take a look at different ways in which you can monitor computer programs on your PC.
Without a doubt, the single most popular way to monitor computer programs in this day and age is with parental control software. Names like
NetNanny and
SafeEyes have become household names due to their overwhelming popularity. Since every one of these programs works slightly differently, you will have to read the instructions on how to properly monitor computer programs to your liking, but in general, each of these programs offer a walk through set up once you install them that allows you to set up an administrative password so that you can control it. You then tell the program which programs you wish to be monitored. Things like chat conversations, websites visited and other information will be logged so that you can view it. You can also set up these programs to limit access to particular sites, such as adult websites, or you can tell it to deny access to certain users, such as your youngest children when they try to log into a web browser by themselves.
What makes these
parental control programs so popular is the ability to safely control multiple accounts at the same time. Your computer could have log ons for you and your spouse and then five separate ones for each of your kids. For each log on, you can have separate rules, restrictions, limits and other settings. Make sure you do your research before you choose the parental control software for your family since each one offers different tools to help you monitor computer programs.
You can also perform monitoring in different ways. Your browsers can be set to keep their history and cache for as long as you like. This browser history can be accessed by a computer administrator to see what websites were visited by which computer user. The same can be done for chat programs. Even older chat programs like IRC have logging features that save all private conversations. Programs like Yahoo and MSN also have chat logging features that can keep flawless records of every private chat that is had by every user. It only takes a second to turn on the logging feature and the person chatting would never know the difference.
Thanks to modern technology, it is easy to monitor computer programs. With a little help from NetNanny, you can control all of the information that comes in and out of your PC, and your children will go to sleep at night protected.
> Parental Control Software 
