A web filter is a powerful tool for creating the Internet environment that you want to have in your home or office. Installing a web filter on every computer is as important as installing anti-virus software.
Filtering the Internet At Home – Children, Teens and Adults
Even when you are confident that your children are responsible or that the adults in your home would not consider visiting questionable content, a web filter is necessary. No home computer should be without a filter because the risks are significant.
Unfortunately, there are many problems associated with Internet use. Individuals are responsible, whether they realize it or not, for what their Internet environment looks like. Too many people are not aware that no one is looking out for their interests online and it is a virtual jungle.
Highly concerning, is the problem of children accessing inappropriate content such as pornography. Today, porn content can make its way into any home at any time, unless it is proactively blocked. Exposure to pornography is harmful to children and can have profound effects that last into adulthood.
For teens, exposure to porn is dangerously addictive and has a highly negative impact. We are seeing more rapes and sexual abuse at younger ages, a rise in dysfunctional sexual attitudes and more. The Internet also exposes more teens to gambling, making the likelihood of compulsive gambling far greater. And the general inclination to spend more time online on platforms like Facebook in place of developing real friendships and being physically active has serious emotional and physical consequences.
Adults are not immune to Internet related problems. Stories of children neglected while their parents play virtual reality games online and families breaking up over porn problems have introduced a whole new category of sensational news items and real potential crises. People lose jobs from using Facebook too much at work, get into debt from playing bingo and poker online and have become more isolated from friends and family due to a growing dependency on their virtual lives.
How a Web Filter Helps
These problems could be easily avoided and the Internet could assume a healthy place in the lives of most people by simply making good use of a web filter. It should be as standard as it is to install antivirus and other Internet security solutions. Once installed and configured for the users in your home, a web filter provides a structure with boundaries and limits on your Internet use. It will block the content that you choose to be blocked. It will allow you to set an Internet use schedule for each user. And it will protect users from the many threats that exist online.
Like any activity, Internet use should be in balance with other parts of life. The structure and limits that a web filter provides are something that every home needs.





