Are you wondering how to make the Internet safe for your kids? You want them to use the Internet for research, but you don't want them to find objectionable sites or emails.

I bet you would like to find a program you could buy that you could install on your computer to block objectionable content, but permit research.

I have sad news for you–there is no such perfect solution. There are solutions out there, such as NetNanny, that block any site mentioning one of a list of objectionable words. The result can be funny, such as blocking the word "arm," and at the same time can drive you nuts if you really want to do regular research on, say, breast cancer.

But these word-blocking solutions are no good at all at blocking objectionable photo sites that have no objectionable words attached. Ask me how I know? My teenage son figured it out. He just went to Google Images and started looking. Your son could do that too. And the objectionable sites he found weren't blocked by NetNanny, which was turned on.

The problem is that filter programs search for individual words. They never look at pictures, and in fact cannot.

So, how can you protect your child?

* Keep your computers where you can monitor what the kids are doing. Put them in the kitchen or wherever YOU are.

*Have a login password that only the adults know. The kid has to have permission, and oversight, to use the computer.

*Ensure that the kid logs off when the computer session is over, or turns the computer off. This makes the password required for the next session.

*Use NetNanny or a similar filter. It can only help.

*Kids should be told what you expect from them, and the consequences of disobedience.

*If a child is just using a word processor or some other local program, disconnect the Internet cable.

*Give younger kids your own email address to use. This protects them from objectionable spam. Give teens an email address, but instruct them to give it out only to people they know personally.

Your watchfulness will pay off. Your children will be protected from what they should not see, and they will also learn good habits for using the Internet as adults.