Parental control always involves blocking some websites for your child. Some websites are obvious candidates for being blocked like websites that include pornography. Other websites may seem innocent, cute, or at best subjective as to whether they should be blocked or not.
The answer to “What websites should parents block” may include a variety of websites you would be surprised to see on the list. Here we’re going to introduce you to some of the most notorious websites your child may be visiting. These visits might be without you knowing, or even worse, you thinking it’s good for them! Additionally, we’re going to introduce you to the best parental control app that will make the job of blocking inappropriate websites much easier for you.
Summary Depending on the nature of the website, parents have to decide whether their kids can access them or not. Some websites are obviously not for kids while others are a bit more subjective. Just like social media platforms where children have accounts even though many parents disagree, the same goes for websites. Here is a list of inappropriate websites you need to block:
If the features these sites provide are valuable to you and your child, there’s no need to worry. You can always replace them with a great alternative. Blocking sites can become much easier if you use an app like Safes. The app enables you to filter inappropriate websites from your child’s web searches, effectively blocking them. It also includes other features which can make parenting much easier in an increasingly virtualized world. |
How to Block Websites in General
Blocking websites has a number of methods based on the browser and device you and your child are using like setting up parental controls on browsers. Trying to block websites on Windows with Google Chrome differs from putting parental controls on Safari.
The same rules apply when you try to analyze different types of kids’ devices. For example, parental controls on Sony phones and parental controls on iPhones differ too much to be explained in the same article. All the above applies to the difference between blocking websites on iOS and other operating systems.
Because of this problem, you’ll have to check out the specific article we’ve written for each of these browsers, devices, and operating systems. Luckily, by visiting our blog, you will see an enormous amount of content for you to review. Plus, it’s getting updated every day. But whatever way you block websites, you still have to know their URLs. Here we’ll cover some examples that’ll help you keep your child safe.
What Websites Should I Block for My Child?
Some websites host explicit material but aren’t advertised as such. That’s why they might have flown under your radar. Luckily, we’re here to help you discover some of these websites. Here are the most important inappropriate websites to block.
Ask.Fm
Ask.fm is a Q&A site that allows users to ask questions and comment anonymously. After creating an account, users can answer random questions that the site provides. They can choose to answer anonymously or provide their profile information.
The problem with Ask.fm is the anonymity. Nobody is responsible for the content in there. So, if your child checks out that website, they can easily access inappropriate content. Cyberbullying and sexual content on Ask.fm are just two reasons among many for why you need to block it for your child.
What We Recommend Instead: Quora
Quora is probably one of the most popular Q&A websites right now. The community is generally great and questions and answers that may be inappropriate can be flagged right away.
Omegle
Omegle allows strangers to video-chat with each other. The chat site advises users to not give out any personal information. It says that users should be over 18 years old. Unfortunately, your child can easily use the website’s services. Omegle’s tagline is literally “Talk to strangers!” If that’s not a red flag then we don’t know what is. If you’re still on the fence, check out our article titled “Is Omegle Safe for Kids?”
What We Recommend Instead: Nothing
Though there are many alternatives to Omegle on the market, all of them share the same problems as Omegle. Even in the best circumstances, there’s just too much risk involved in talking to strangers for kids. So, it’s best to block access to such websites for your child. If you’re interested, there are a lot of great kid-friendly video chat apps on the market as well.
4Chan
4Chan is an imageboard where anybody can post content anonymously. It is the most liberal of websites one can imagine since posting almost anything is permitted. In other words, most of the time, 4Chan’s forums contain content that other websites would never allow. The Washington Post once described 4Chan as “a forum with no names, few rules, and few consequences.” Why would you want your child to have access to such a website?
What We Recommend Instead: Reddit
Reddit is also a website that hosts an infinitely large number of forums on various subjects. Reddit has a less controversial history compared to 4Chan. Your child can learn a lot using Reddit, but you should always be careful how they use it and which forums they visit.
Toomics
Toomics hosts an enormous collection of manga (Japanese comic books) on its website. Because of the specific style that manga has, they’re enormously popular with kids. The problem is that when your child browses Toomics, they can easily come across inappropriate content on the website.
Many of the manga the website hosts contain sexual content or mature themes. And though the site does have a “family safe” mode, it’s notoriously easy for children to lie about their age and get right through. So do your child a favor and block the website entirely. The problem with manga might be a problem you have with the anime your children watch. If your answer is positive to “Is anime bad for kids?”, then you’re probably acquainted with this problem already.
What We Recommend Instead: Kidjutsu
Kidjutsu is a website that has a collection of manga only for kids. No matter how much your child browses the website, they won’t find explicit content there.
Archive.org
On the surface, Archive.org is a great idea. Simply put, it’s a library of all the websites on the internet with all their previous versions. So, you can check out what Facebook looked like in 2010. As always, not all fun ideas are appropriate for kids. Since many adult websites can be accessed through Archives.org, your child can easily access websites that you think you’ve blocked before.
What We Recommend Instead: Nothing
Honestly, all of Archive.org’s alternatives have the same problem. If your child wants access to a specific website, they should be able to access it directly. If they have any reason to want to know what a certain website looked like 10 years ago, they should ask you first.
Using a Parental Control App to Block Websites
Here we only covered 5 websites whereas the internet certainly has more. So how can you block all the inappropriate websites that exist? The bad news is you can’t. You need to know about all the websites that contain adult content or that you just think are inappropriate for your child. Then, you have to keep track of their changing URLs and the new websites that are created every second. But there’s good news as well.
Parental control apps like Safes offer you the option to block thousands of websites at the press of a button. Safes’s databases contain an overwhelming number of websites that deal in adult content (you’d be surprised) and are constantly being updated along the way. Using features like “Web filter” and “Safe search,” you can easily control what web categories your child has access to and apply content filters to their search. You can also use Safes to block certain social media sites you deem inappropriate for your child.
Concluding What Websites Parents Should Block
Too often parents think that blocking pornographic websites is enough to keep their children safe on the internet. On the contrary, there are too many websites advertised to children that are not appropriate for them.
Since your child might not know what’s best for them, it’s your job to block exposure to inappropriate content. And with Safes in the palm of your hand, blocking websites has never been easier. To find out more about Safes, feel free to check out other features and pricing on the website.
