iparenting award
Norton has been awarded the iParenting Media Award in the Best Software category for OnlineFamily.Norton (OFN). Tom Petroski reports.
OFN helps kids stay safe and smart about what they’re doing online, by getting parents supervise internet time and to talk with their kids and educate them.
“We are extremely pleased that iParenting Media has recognized OnlineFamily.Norton as the best solution to protect kids online,” said Marian Merritt, Norton Internet Safety Advocate.
“Unlike existing parental controls software, which focus primarily on blocking objectionable sites and applications, OnlineFamily.Norton helps protect kids online by fostering a dialogue between parents and kids about their online lives.”
iParenting said that “unlike many parental control products, [OnlineFamily.Norton] aims to create dialogue between parents and kids, not assert draconian control.”
Norton’s other award winning software includes Norton Antivirus Security products such as Norton Internet Security 2010 and Norton 360. The Norton brand has continued as well respected and trusted software to protect customers from viruses, malware and phishing.
OFN allows parents to monitor search terms that their kids are using, and restricts unsuitable sites based on over four dozen categories. This is configured with your kids’ birth date, to ensure they view age appropriate content.
If a child tries to access a blocked site, they are either prevented totally or given a warning. If the warning is ignored this is then logged.
Users can also set a time limit for how long their child spends online, but kids can request extra time subject to parental approval.
It also looks at your kids’ IM accounts and parents can control who they talk to, whether to record chats and subject friend requests to parental approval.
At time of writing it is still free to use, and also comes bundled with Norton’s great all round protection software Norton 360.
On Windows system it requires a 300-MHz or higher processor, 512 MB of RAM (256 MB minimum) and 50 MB of available hard disk space. Mac users will also need 512 MB of RAM (256 MB minimum) and 50 MB of available hard disk space.
The awards honor outstanding software and websites. iParenting was founded back in 1996 as just pregnancytoday.com, before growing into a network of over 40 websites helping people start and raise a family along every step of the way. It is now part of the Disney Corporation’s network of family websites.
Image credit: lepiaf.geo