I no longer have kids living at home, but I consult, especially in the area of information security and I recommend my clients not to use parental controls. There are inherent weaknesses in relying on software to control other's web surfing habits. For one, every parental control software can be broken. This may come as a shock, but they all have vulnerabilities that are exploitable. So, in the end, using them leads to a false sense of security. Second, using this type of software sends the wrong message to those we mean to protect - that there is an automated, non-human, blanket solution to every problem. Third, parental control software is going to prevent those you want to protect from accessing perfectly fine web sites (false positives) and is not going to stop them from getting to all objectionable ones (false negatives). This type of thing happens a lot. Surprise! Fourth, parental controls at home only contribute to the child being motivated to access the internet elsewhere, where there are no controls. Such as at a friend's home. IMHO, the best way to protect your child from objectionable content online is to actually supervise their online activity. I don't mean look over their shoulder every second, I mean keep their computer in an area where they can be seen without warning. If you feel they can be trusted to surf in private, then they don't need any controls whatsoever. Think about this. Would you trust a computer program to decide who your children can play with? If you answered no, then why would you trust it to determine what they can surf online? If you answered yes, I feel for the children. Just some food for thought. I have found these controls end up being more trouble than they're worth. Your mileage may vary.