As an operating system, Windows has actually included a built-in parental control system in its internet explorer browser. Using this feature, you can limit your child from viewing inappropriate contents on the internet.

To set it up, click on “Tools” from the main menu bar. Then click on “Internet Options”. Now, go to the “Content” area to set some controls. Under the “Content Advisor” section, you will see an enable button, click on it and a new window will appear.

After accomplishing the steps mentioned above, you are now ready to set the parental control features. For starting, you may want to set the internet safety ratings. Just click on the “Ratings” tab. Within this area, you can determine what can be viewed on your computer based on levels. For example, Level 1 for violence is fighting, Level 2 is killing, Level 3 is blood and gore, and so forth.

To avoid blocking legitimate websites, you will need to make further adjustments. This can easily be done by clicking on the “Approved Sites,” tab. In addition to create a list of approved websites, you can also list the websites that you want to block. This feature is useful in case you want to prohibit your child from using social networking websites such as MySpace.

The next important thing to accomplish is to create a password for the parental controls. Just click on the “General” tab provided. This is useful to unblock or to approve certain websites in the future.

You can see that protecting your kids from viewing inappropriate contents using Internet Explorer can be accomplished easily. Although it cannot completely eliminate the risks online, it is a free program anyway. Of course you can use programs like PC Tattletale if you need more protections for your kids.