Several of the larger service providers, such as AOL, CompuServe, and Prodigy, and many smaller ones offer services to let parents set internet restrictions for their kids. Children's chat rooms may include technological filters to monitor the language used. These monitors also look for behavior that may signal an adult, rather than a child, is at the site. Parents also have access to a wealth of filtering and blocking software, some of which relate to ratings systems. The SafeSurf Internet Filtering Solution, for example, allows web sites to rate themselves, using codes.
Parents then decide which levels they'll allow their children to access.
Software may block or filter out pornographic or obscene material, while giving the user access to other sites. Some of the more popular filtering or blocking software programs include Cyber Patrol, Cybersitter, InterGo with KinderGuard Security Screen, Net Nanny, and SurfWatch. In the world of cyberspace, parents taking charge, not new laws, is still the most effective way to protect children.