• Brandon Leonard •
• Originally published January 12, 2009 at 10:33 a.m., updated January 12, 2009 at 10:33 a.m.

Barbara Goodell does not see how more information could hurt parents trying to regulate what their children see when browsing the Internet.

"It's good to get more information out to people, so they would know more about the content," the library director for Wharton County said. "If something would help someone make a good decision, I don't see how more information would hurt."

Proponents of age ratings for Internet content say the ratings would help parents keep their children safe and could be used with software to develop more efficient Internet monitoring programs for parents.

"The only way the ratings would work is if Web browsers gave administrative users (parents) the ability to set a cutoff for the material other users can view," said Stephen Dawkins, a columnist with The Clanton Advertiser, a newspaper in Alabama. "That sort of thing is available now but probably not in as efficient a manner as the ratings would make possible."

Goodell admitted she did not know how an age-ratings system would work, but Wharton County libraries have a filtering system installed on all of their computers and offer training classes on how to use "everything from e-mail to the Internet," Goodell said.

Bard Letsinger, a pastor at Victoria's Parkway Church, and his wife are careful with the Web sites they let their two children browse. Both are "pretty Internet savvy," he said. His 10-year-old boy loves Star Wars and video game Web sites, while the 4-year-old girl mostly visits Disney and Nickelodeon Web pages.

"The kids play on our laptop," Letsinger said. "It stays in the living room or kitchen. It stays where we are, and it's always in a very public area."

Letsinger did not think the ratings system would infringe on free speech or freedom of the press rights.

"It's not a censorship thing. It's a ratings thing," Letsinger said. "It lets a parent know what content is there."

But no ratings system or software can replace the involvement of parents in their kids' online activities, Letsinger said.

"It all comes down to parents being involved with kids," Letsinger said. "I think the cards and software are good, but the best card or software is a parent being there with the kid. No software can replace that."

Dawkins echoed Letsinger's thoughts, broadening his reaction to any technology.

"In the end, the responsible use of any technology will come down to parents being able to teach their kids how to make responsible decisions," Dawkins said.

• More information

  What are some ways parents can regulate what their children have access to on the Internet?

  Purchase and install a program, such as NetNanny. Once installed, the program scans a site's content, refusing access to Web pages with ...

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More information

What are some ways parents can regulate what their children have access to on the Internet?

Purchase and install a program, such as NetNanny. Once installed, the program scans a site's content, refusing access to Web pages with certain phrases.

Create individual user accounts for each member of the family and an administrator's account. The administrator decides what privileges users have on their account.

Adjust and lock your browser's settings to block access to sites with content you consider inappropriate.

Remember children often know how to get around safeguards better than adults. Nothing replaces parents supervising their children's Internet activity.

What are some ways parents can regulate what their children have access to on the Internet?

Purchase and install a program, such as NetNanny. Once installed, the program scans a site's content, refusing access to Web pages with certain phrases.

Create individual user accounts for each member of the family and an administrator's account. The administrator decides what privileges users have on their account.

Adjust and lock your browser's settings to block access to sites with content you consider inappropriate.

Remember, children often know how to get around safeguards better than adults. Nothing replaces parents supervising their children's Internet activity.

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