On Monday, the BBC reported on a poll by the NSPCC that said “Three out of four children have seen images on the internet that disturbed them” and that the NSPCC were calling for internet filtering software to come pre-installed on PCs.

The thing is that this software is and has been available for years and sometimes for free.  Windows Vista and Windows 7 have parental controls built in that are easily accessed from the Control Panel, and also make their Live Family Safety software available for free.  In addition to this there are a wide variety of third-party packages available that don’t cost the earth.

The problem, as I see it, is that parents simply don’t bother installing this software or worse, if they’re running an operating system that has it built in, they don’t turn it on!  The NSPCC is ‘renewing calls for computer manufacturers and retailers to install security to stop children finding violent or sexual content’, but this is completely wide of the mark because they’re all installing Windows Vista and so it’s already pre-installed.

I’ve had a good look through the NSPCC website this morning and couldn’t find anything about being safe on the internet.  There were no links to family safety software and not even to the excellent government website GetSafeOnline.  Can I suggest that the only point of this NSPCC poll was to try and cook up a story that, if they’d have done even five minutes of research beforehand, would have turned out very different.

I wrote to the NSPCC to ask them about these points.  Their reply to me is here in full.

Dear Mr Halsey,

Thank you for your enquiry. We are indeed aware of and welcome the Windows Vista parental control software but are concerned that it is difficult for parents to find or configure it on PCs. We would like to see parental control software preset to a high level of security on all new computers, with better promotion of such software and guidance to parents on how to engage with it. You can find a safe surfing guide for parents in a briefing on children and the internet on our website media centre. Many thanks.

Regards
Duty Enquiries Officer
NSPCC Library and Information Service
Weston House
42 Curtain Rd
London EC2A 3NH

Clearly this is self-serving and not intended to help either parents or children.  Its only purpose can be to make the NSPCC appear powerful.

Their policy, and I’m assuming this is an official policy because of how they worded it, “We would like to see parental control software preset to a high level of security on all new computers” is something that would never happen.  It assumes…

• That all new PCs are sold to parents or
• That parents will be required to declare that they are parents when ordering a new PC and
• That PC manufacturers, who already have extremely tight profit margins, will be prepared to spend time configuring seperate parental and child user accounts

Their statement that they are “concerned that it is difficult for parents to find or configure it on PCs” is something I find laughable.  I agree that the Parental Controls should have been included in the Welcome Centre in Windows Vista but, for the benefit of anybody who finds it too difficult to set this up, my detailed instructions are below…

1. Select Control Panel from the Start Menu
2. Click on the link Set up parental controls for any user in the top right
3. Follow the wizard and instructions

Do any parents now find the words “it is difficult for parents to find or configure” rather patronising?