Many children surf the Internet independently from a young age. If you as a parent sit next to it, you get to see what websites and content your child sees. Older children in particular – from secondary school onwards, for example – should also be allowed to use the Internet in a self-determined way. Often it’s just one click and kids are directed to another, perhaps less kid-friendly site. Programs like JusProg are intended to help better protect children and young people online.
The software filters accessed web addresses and blocks non-age-appropriate pages on the Internet. JusProg runs in the background while surfing: If a website is listed as not age-appropriate in the system, it is blocked. Parents specify the age of the child in advance.
JusProg can be installed on most iOS and Android devices. In addition to the listed web addresses, other pages can be manually blocked or unblocked. Multiple user profiles can be created on one device so that parents and children can surf on one computer and the level of protection is individually adapted to the age of the family member. For example, one child sees content for under-12s, while the older sibling can visit websites for ages 16 and up. The program was rated “good” by Stiftung Warentest.
JusProg ‘s system is based on negative (blocklist) and positive (passlist) lists on which various websites are noted. The providers themselves do not guarantee one hundred percent security, as the Internet is too large and growing too fast for all sites to be listed. Non-German websites and content on social media channels in particular are not sufficiently protected. Parents should therefore manually block websites that they feel are not age-appropriate. Children aged 0 to 12 are only shown websites that are on the whitelist of the fragFinn.de children’s search engine. Unknown web addresses are automatically blocked. It’s a little different for children over the age of 12: For them, all pages that are not noted in the system are automatically unlocked.
The providers point out that approved pages have only been classified as suitable for children and not harmful to development. Unlike children’s search engines such as fragFinn, these are not recommendations for the age in question. Parents must assess for themselves or research other recommendations to determine if the content is appropriate for their child. See the parent page of the offer for more information.
JusProg is a good offer that can support better youth protection on the net. It is especially useful for younger children. From the age of 12, the surfing space with JusProg is relatively unprotected. Internet sites such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are difficult for the system to filter and must be set manually. Often, the sites themselves offer parental control filters that can be easily activated.
As a parent, you should be aware that a parental control program like JusProg is not a substitute for monitoring your child’s media use. Talk openly with your child about his or her own media behavior and agree on rules for media use in the family. If you have accompanied your child’s first steps online and explained to him or her what to look out for, he or she will later be able to move around online more or less safely on his or her own and will know better how to deal with dangers online. For example, your daughter or son will turn to you or others he or she trusts when he or she encounters problems.If you choose to use JusProg, don’t make your child feel like you don’t trust him or her. Explain to your child why JusProg blocks certain sites and decide together when your child is ready for more open Internet access.
