Every day an estimated 260 new pornographic sites join the more than 75,000 sexually explicit sites already on the Internet. Many people do not know that there are ISP (Internet Service Providers) that will filter these sites for you. You do not have to rely on software on your computer that your children might be able to outsmart. I have reprinted this material from Focus on the Family Citizen for those of you who might have the need to use this filtering. Not all online-filtering services are created equal. Look for the following features when selecting a filtering service that meets your family's needs:

KID CONTENT: This is probably the most important feature of any filtering service. Because filtering often blocks both the good and the bad on the Internet, look for a filtering service that allows access to a wide variety of educational and entertaining sites.

CUSTOMIZATION: Because most filtering services are only able to rate a small portion of all available Web sitesùand you many not agree with all of their decisionsùparents need to be able to tailor the ratings to meet their childrenÆs needs.

NEWSGROUP FILTERING: Even newsgroups devoted to Christian topics may receive random pornographic postings from individuals who get a kick out of offending others. Your filtering service should allow you to block access to newsgroups and/or filter those that you want to access. vices, was the first to install filtering software on multiple-computer servers instead of on individual Pcs.

CHAT FILTERING: Chat-room monitoring software can easily be circumvented by the participants. Due to the danger of abduction, chats should never be unsupervised. If your filtering server does not monitor chats, you should have the capability to block chats entirely when you are not present.

E-MAIL FILTERING: Whether it be random pornography, harassment or an attempt to lure your child, inappropriate e-mail abounds. Look for a server that enables you to monitor your childÆs e-mail and block e-mail attachments.

TEXT FILTERING: Filtering services that effectively monitor outgoing messages are scarce. Discuss with your children the danger of providing personal information online, such as a phone number or address.

TIME MANAGEMENT: Many software packages for PCs enable parents to limit the amount of time their children spend online. Inquire with local servers about providing the same service from their end.

MAINSTREAM FILTERING SERVICES

America Online www.aol.com

Bess www.n2h2.com or 800-971-2622

netFilter www.netfilter.com or 410-822-8897

WebSENSE www.websense.com or 800-723-1166

FAITH-BASED FILTERED ISPs

CharacterLink

www.characterlink.net or 888-330-8678

Family Based Internet

www.safeplace.net or 888-535-5354

Integrity Online

www.integrityonline.com or 800-585-6603