Check out a review of SeeNoEvil sent to us by one of members. (Thank you Cathy!)
Our two elementary school children are currently collecting Webkinz, our twelve your old son is a fan of quite a few video game websites, and our thirteen year old daughter is certainty becoming a member of the MySpace generation. There is a line for our computer daily. My husband and I began to realize how central the Internet was to our lives and wanted to encourage the use of technology while still protecting our children from all of the harm of the World Wide Web. However, we were not sure exactly how to do this. Visiting Christianmom.com, I saw an advertisement for SeeNoEvil.com. After visiting the seenoevil.com site, I learned that the software comes with a 30 day money back guarantee, so I figured it would be worth it to give it a shot.
SeeNoEvil software was easy to purchase and download. Installation went smooth (my husband took care of this, and said it took about one min for SeeNoEvil to load after the reboot but that was the only snag). Part of the installation process is choosing a parental name and password. Basically, the parental user (you can add more parental users if necessary) runs the program: setting up user names and passwords and security levels for each member of the family.
With SeeNoEvil we choose a separate username and password for each of our children and then choose security features for them. For our younger children, we choose a high security level. At the high security level the children are only allowed access to a list of websites determined by my husband and me. With this feature I knew if my children were online, they would only have access to certain websites already reviewed and determined to be safe by me. There was not a possibility of them accidently logging out of Webkinz or Disney and coming across an inappropriate advertisement or website.
For our two older children we choose a medium security setting. Under this setting the children can explore the web freely but all images are blocked by a monkey (a cute little monkey covering his eyes). I really liked this because it blocked all graphic pictures being used as advertisements on MySpace and my son’s video gaming websites. SeeNoEvil also allowed us to choose a list of websites that would download with images never being blocked. (Like my children’s school website, where they sometimes go to print homework assignments) and we could choose websites to block access to (such as youtube.com).
Choosing security levels for the children and unique “allow” and “disallow” websites was very easy. The SeeNoEvil user guide walked us through the process step by step! Also, after reviewing the user guide I discovered SeeNoEvil software allows me the ability to set time controls and restrictions for the children. As I said before, we often had a line to use the computer (and many fights to go along with it). I set time restrictions and my children know exactly when their time on the computer is. (The time I choose is the only time SeeNoEvil will allow them to log in!) This has reduced the issue of fighting over the computer, and gives me peace of mind knowing my children are using technology but not excessively.
Overall I would highly recommend SeeNoEvil. The downfall to the software would be the reboot of the computer during the installation process and the time (a day or two) it takes to learn the in and outs of the software. The advantages to the software were the easy to understand user guide and the security of knowing what my children are viewing and doing online. I am not a technological wiz and even I can use SeeNoEvil.
