The Lord prayed for us in His magnificent Intercessory Prayer, not that Heavenly Father "shouldest take [us] out of the world", but that He "shouldest keep [us] from the evil." (John 17:15). But what tools has Heavenly Father inspired men to create in order to help keep us from this "evil"? Although there are far too many to list, here are a few of the things that I have found must helpful.
1. Be Smart and Be Clean:
Although obvious, the most important thing to do is to remember to be smart when using the Internet. This means ensuring that children are aware of the dangers of the Internet and know exactly what to do when (not if) they come across explicit content. It's only a matter of time before children are exposed to this filth, but if children are taught early to close the window or tab containing the explicit content immediately without dwelling on it, this pattern will become an invaluable standard for them to follow throughout their lives. My parents were great examples of following this pattern, and I still admire and feel gratitude to them for teaching it to me at such a young age. Encourage your children to come talk to you about it if they come across this explicit content. This will give you the opportunity to reassure them of your love and support--helping to invite the Spirit back into their lives. This will also give you the opportunity to compliment them on their decision to keep the commandments, which will encourage them to follow the same process the next time.
Use passwords on computers to make sure that children are only able to browse the Internet at appropriate times, when others are around and can easily see the display.
Also, be weary of mobile devices. Desktop and laptop computers are no longer the only devices capable of accessing the filth of the Internet. Set rules concerning when and where these mobile devices are used and which websites are appropriate to visit on them. Google Safe Search (see below) can also be enabled on many mobile devices (see https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/1636666?hl=en).
2. Google Safe Search:
Google has become one of the staples of the Internet. I can honestly say that very few days go by that I don't use Google to search for at least one thing. Thankfully, this useful tool has an setting, entitled Google Safe Search, to help prevent explicit content from showing up in the search results. This is especially useful to help prevent children from seeing unwanted content while doing research for school. There are a few ways to enable Google Safe Search:
The easiest way is to simply use the the website http://www.safesearchkids.com/ to browse the web instead of google.com. The SafeSearchKids website simply uses a customized version of the Google search engine with Google Safe Search turned on at all times. This allows you to get the same results you expect from using Google, without the garbage.
The other way to enable Google Safe Search is to enable it within Google's own settings. This allows you to use google.com and as well as Google's other services (such as images.google.com to search for images) with Google Safe Search (please be warned that although Google Safe Search will help, some unwanted content (especially images) may still show up). To do this, follow the proceeding steps:
- First, visit https://www.google.com.
- Next, click on the "Settings" link at the bottom right of the screen, then click the "Search settings" link:
- Next, check the "Filter explicit results." checkbox under the "SafeSearch filters" section:
- Finally, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the "Save" button:
Please be aware that the above steps must be completed on each browser on each computer you use, and these settings will need to be re-enabled should you ever clear your browser settings.
Again, remember that although Google Safe Search does help prevent explicit content from showing up, it is NOT PERFECT. Some unwanted content may still show up, and as such, it is still very important to be on your guard at all times and to always follow all of the principles I mentioned in item 1, above.
3. AdBlock:
Finally, the fountain of youth for browsers: AdBlock. AdBlock is a completely free extension (add-on) for Internet browsers that automatically blocks advertisements on the websites you visit without blocking any of the content you actually care about. Not only are these advertisements annoying and a waste of bandwidth, but they also often contain offensive and obscene content (think of the commercials you see today on TV). I primarily use Google Chrome, which has AdBlock available, for everyday web browsing, but variants of AdBlock such as AdBlock Plus are also available for other browsers such as Mozilla Firefox. Below are the steps to install and enable AdBlock on Google Chrome:
- First, visit https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/extensions?hl=en-US, then type in "adblock" in the search box at the top left and press Enter:
- In the search results that show up, scroll down to the "Extensions" category, find the "AdBlock" item and click its corresponding "+ Free" button:
- A box will likely come up, prompting you to confirm that you want to add the extension, click the "Add" button.
- After a brief progress screen, you should be able to start browsing without ads!
- Initially you'll see the AdBlock button at the top right of the screen, which will tell you how many ads it is blocking for the site you are currently visiting, but you can hide this button by right-clicking on it and clicking "Hide button" if you wish:
Hopefully these tips will help protect you from the filth of the Internet while still allowing you to utilize the Internet to bring about good in the world.
