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If you're worried about your kid getting access to inappropriate things on the net, try K9: http://www1.k9webprotection.com/

Don't be a frigging nanny! We're talking about a 12-year old who is old enough to learn that there is crap out there. He's going to find it anyway. If you're worried, tell him that he can only use the computer in the living room or some other visible area. He's not likely to surf porn in the living room where anyone can walk by.

If you're worried about your kid getting access to inappropriate things on the net, try K9: http://www1.k9webprotection.com/

http://www1.k9webprotection.com/ I have used this on several customers computers works really well its a free local content filter.

Try using this: http://www1.k9webprotection.com/ Its based on the filtering technology from blue coat but is a local installable web filter, free for home use. I belie it is intended for exactly what you describe.

I've never tried it but check this site out for a info and see if there free product works for what you need (it's backed by a company that makes enterprise stuff, it that helps) http://www1.k9webprotection.com/

Side-stepping the 'be a better parent' comments... (yes, I have kids, no I can't supervise them all the time...)

http://www1.k9webprotection.com/blue-coat-webfilter - It's not oss, but it's free for personal use

Password protected filtering, easily configured categories... The kids occasionally see a puppy on the screen with a friendly message, and anything you want to remove from the filter can be whitelisted.

NBIAR

I've used K9 Web Protection for years. http://www1.k9webprotection.com/ It's free and does a pretty good job. I also setup my wireless router to use OpenDNS as an added layer of protection for any of my kids friends who may bring something over and connect to our wireless network. It's not foolproof, but you can setup a filter level and it does a decent job of stopping "accidental" clicks.

Also, you can install k9 for free. http://www1.k9webprotection.com/ You can then include whatever categories you care about. Are there ways around it? Of course. But be your child's teammate, not their adversary. Tell them why you are installing it. They wl appreciate that you are trying to protect them, even if they don't agree, and they will feel empowered to talk to you if they don't. Respect is a two-way street.

I recommend installing a web filter, such as http://www1.k9webprotection.com/ (commercial but free) and using the filtering categories based on the parent's personal beliefs. Also, I recommend that computers be kept in a "public" place where you can see the screen. To accomplish this, our kids' laptops do not work with wireless until they turn 18. The network jacks are in locations where we want them to use the computer. With a netbook, this is may be a bit difficult as it may not have a wired network jack.

As a father I like the idea of being able to leave my kids at a computer or TV without having to continually monitor their activities. Here in the UK we have the BBC and thus their two fantastic advert, nudity, profanity free childrens channels. And on the home computers I've stuck K9, which seems to do a pretty good job without spoiling their use of the computer. Recently they went to a relatives house and log onto their PC. The eldest searched for "horses", as this is something she is interested in, and got links to, amongst what you would expect, "horses mating with humans". There must be a balance, of course, but I do not feel that I can let broadcasters, in the loosest definition, decide what is and what is not suitable for my children. I do not want them to grow up thinking profanity, nudity, violence or whatever is normal behaviour. Similarly, I do not want them subject to some of the adverts that appear on some childrens channels (e.g. give money to help save some poor kid's life... I feel there're more appropriate ways of teaching kids about these issues). So we need something in place, whether that is common sense or an impartial body. Unfortunately I don't think common sense is an abundant commodity and so the US would probably benefit from keeping the FCC's indecency policy in place. There's no K9 for live TV, alas.

It doesn't, I have some web advertisements blocked using our corporate ProxySG from bluecoat.

Home users can use K9 free of charge. After all, it's all about protecting the kids!

K9

You can also hard set the local DNS on the laptop to go through, but it won't have the filtering.

I use http://www1.k9webprotection.com/ for my son's laptop and it does a good job of filtering.

If you are using a Windows box for your kids, try K9

It's free for home use and the database is the best I have found, with very few of the false positives that you get from other filters (like finding source code examples on somebody's random blog).

It allows you to block video and file sharing sites, P2P, social networking sites, etc., as well as gambling, violence, hate, sex, nudity, etc. so it has a lot of options to turn on or off, giving the parent control. Apparently, it's very hard to uninstall without the password, too.

I don't work for them or anything, just a Dad with kids on the internet.

www.k9webprotection.com is a great windows based filter. It installs as a service. If you disable the process you disable the internet (a quick reboot to fix). You can even block all internet access from, say, 10pm to 7am. It has filter over-rides, and complete logging. Best of all its free. While you could pay $30/year for contentwatch or netnanny, k9 web protection is the most fully featured freeware filter out there. Its not about free speech. The parent who is paying for the computer, and internet connection ought to be able to control what content is allowed and what is disallowed. Then when the kid goes off to college they can make their own decisions. But while porn is no good at any age, it is especially harmful to children who haven't learned to control their urges.

I've been using this for my kids:
http://www.k9webprotection.com/

It's free and it's not (too) easily defeated. Of course the usual applies (if physical access to the machine is available, all measures are null and void in the end), but it's something at least.

I agree - pornography is a HUGE problem in our society. Children are especially vulnerable...but the responsibility for filtering out such crap falls upon the parents - not upon legislation.

5 years ago, nearly half of all homes had an internet filter of some sort installed - now, only a quarter do. Is this because of the percieved inadequacies of filters? I agree that in the past they have had problems, but recently, there have been many advances which reduce false-positives (the "breast cancer" point is all but non-existant now).

You can get a filter for free at http://www.k9webprotection.com - they offer it as a community service. You can also find some for-profit filters reviewed at http://internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com/.