As a parent, you have to play different roles like cook, therapist, and tutor, apart from being a parent. But in today’s world, you also need to be a full-time IT specialist. With kids having access to various technologies, parents must learn how to use parental controls to ensure their kids’ online safety.
Web filtering is an essential parental control that most households use to block access to inappropriate websites and applications. But how does it work? Knowing the basics can ease parents’ minds about what their children can or cannot access online. Bark can be an excellent tool to help parents keep their kids safe online.
How Web Filtering Operates
Have you ever wondered how web filtering works? Well, let’s imagine the internet as a physical space where each website is like a unique location, such as a house, building, or store. Just like in the real world, each of these locations has an address represented by a URL.
When we talk about web filtering, it means that certain websites or online locations are blocked from being accessed. This is done by intercepting the internet connection that is directed towards a specific URL, just like how the power company activates or deactivates electricity services in a physical home. Web filtering services, like Bark, play the role of either enabling or disabling the internet flow to the designated URL. However, it’s important to note that websites that are not restricted will remain accessible as usual.
Web Filtering: A Dual Challenge
Controlling the websites that children can access is crucial, and web filtering is an effective way to do that. However, it has its limitations. Imagine a house; you can decide which houses your child can enter, but it’s challenging to filter specific rooms within those houses. Similarly, some websites have sections that are exclusively intended for adults.
It would be great if web filtering were a mutual responsibility. Popular platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat should ideally incorporate robust web filtering mechanisms within their platforms to prevent children from encountering inappropriate content. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. For instance, when allowing access to Instagram, it’s a binary choice: either see all content or none at all. This exposes children to potentially inappropriate material.
Streaming apps present a similar challenge. Despite the significant presence of children on these platforms, many popular music services make adult content easily accessible. Although some apps offer explicit content filters, our team found them to be inconsistent or inaccurate in testing. Although parental control tools like Bark strive to address these issues, it appears that these apps are not consistently vigilant about the content available.
Capabilities of Pinardin Web Filtering
Pinardin is a trusted web filtering system designed to ensure the online safety of children. It offers a robust and dependable set of features for parents to confidently rely on:
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App and Site Blocking: Pinardin effectively blocks access to specific apps and websites, including popular platforms like Snapchat.
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Category-Based Rules: Parents can establish rules to either block or permit entire categories of apps and sites, covering areas such as sexual content or all streaming platforms.
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Category Exceptions: Pinardin allows exceptions within designated categories, enabling users to block all gaming sites while permitting access to specific ones like Roblox.
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Scheduled Access: Parents have the flexibility to schedule specific times when their children are allowed to access particular apps and websites.
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Internet Control: Pinardin provides the option to turn off internet access while still allowing texts and calls.
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SafeSearch Lock: It offers the ability to lock SafeSearch on popular search engines such as Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and YouTube.
Families have placed their trust in Pinardin’s filtering system to protect their children online. When attempting to access a blocked app or site, children are likely to encounter loading issues or a message like “This site can’t be reached,” indicating the effective implementation of web filtering.
Additionally, parents can extend Pinardin’s web filtering controls to all their home devices through the Pinardin Home feature. This comprehensive coverage includes Phones, Tablets and Computers.
