Providing internet access to your children is now a fundamental part of education. In school libraries have systems administrators and sharp eyed librarians carefully guiding the appropriate use of computers. Geography projects are so much simpler with computers and the internet.

How do you safely enable the internet and computer use in the home? How do you ensure your children do not accidentally break your carefully set up Windows Vista machine?

Historically, all users on a PC had administrator rights. In some instances, this is like letting a 6 year old run the Library. Pandemonium and chaos ensues!

Windows Vista helps solve that problem by enabling children to use Windows without administrator privileges and adds a robust set of Parental Controls that parents can use to ensure their children are accessing appropriate programs and Web sites, when it is appropriate for them to be doing so.

To illustrate how the Family Safety Settings work and how they are integrated with User Account Control, I will create a son called Toby. 

Step 1:

Integral to the successful use of parental controls is the concept of User Account Control, and individual, non-administrator accounts for each user. I empower Toby by giving him his own logon account, but with parameters that ensure I can confidently give him his independence within that account.  To use the computer, Toby must log into the PC with his username and password.

Step 2:

After creating an account for Toby, I enable Parental Controls on Toby's account through the Control Panel. By limiting what Web sites Toby can visit, what programs and games Toby can use, what time he can use the computer, and I can also access a report on all of his activities. Parental Controls in Windows Vista gives parents the option of taking a more active role in their children's safe computer use, if they so choose, and can facilitate some healthy discussions about boundaries and how to stay safe online.

To encourage a collaborative approach to child safe computing, limitations set through Parental Controls are not hidden in Windows Vista - if Toby tries to access a Web site that I did not give him permission to see, he will see the following screen in his Web browser informing him that the Web site is blocked.

However, the screen also provides a link to "Ask an administrator for permission" to visit the site. If he clicks that link, he will be given the User Account Control over-the shoulder credentials prompt. This way if I feel like this is a site she wants Toby to visit, I can quickly grant permission.

In Parental Controls, there are many controls to ensure that your kids, when using a computer, can do so safely.

And get top marks in their geography assignment. Without your intervention.