2. Prepare.
Let’s start putting that porn-free family plan into place. This will take a couple of hours, so set aside the time and get to it!
Step 1: Create Passwords.
Master password. At the top of the list is creating your master password. Your whole plan may fail if you choose a bad password or fail to protect it. Make it good (something that is difficult to guess and combines letters with numbers) and make sure you store it somewhere safe if you aren’t certain you’ll remember it. You may also need to create a 4-digit master password for mobile devices.
Family passwords. You also need to create a password for every other person in your home. Create passwords that will be easy for them to remember but hard for others to guess. Every child needs to know his own password and only his own password. Record these somewhere safe. If your children use mobile devices, you may also need to create mobile passwords for your children—usually 4-digit codes. Once again, make sure you know these codes and store them somewhere safe.
Step 2: Sign Up and Create Accounts.
With passwords in place, it’s time to sign up for services you’ll use in your porn-free family plan.
OpenDNS. We’ll begin by signing up for OpenDNS.
- Visit OpenDNS (www.opendns.com) and look for the Parental Control Solution. OpenDNS Family Shield is a great place to begin. (Alternatively, OpenDNS Home VIP is the optional, premier solution and costs $19.95 per year.)
- Create a user account for yourself using your master password.
- Look at the different filtering options and set the ones appropriate for your family. Whatever you set here will apply to every device that accesses the internet through your home network.
- Note: It’s best to set the filter to block more rather than less. Then loosen it if you find it’s blocking too many sites.
Covenant Eyes. You’ve signed up for your filtering. Now it’s time to sign up for accountability software.
- Visit Covenant Eyes (www.covenanteyes.com) and create an account using your master password.
- Add each member of your family as a user and assign the password you created for each of them.
- Sign up each user for accountability monitoring and have the reports sent to your email address every three to seven days. Choose an accountability level appropriate to their age and maturity.
- If you’d like to have user-specific filtering in addition to the general filtering with OpenDNS, configure that as well. Choose a filtering level appropriate to each person’s age and maturity. It may also be wise to disable internet access during certain times (Example: Disable all Internet access for children after 9 p.m. and before 7 a.m.).
- Note: It’s best to set the filter and accountability to block and report more and to relax the filtering levels only if and when it’s proving cumbersome.
Computers. Now you need to create user accounts on each of your computers and laptops (and tablets, if they allow multiple users).
- For every computer in your home, you need to create an account for each person who uses it. This means if five people in your family each use the family computer, you need to create five accounts.
- Create an account for yourself using your master password. Ensure you have administrator privileges.
- Then create a user account for each family member using the password you created for them. Make sure they do not have administrator privileges.
Warning: This can be laborious, especially if you have multiple computers. Persevere!
Step 3: Install Software.
Now that we’ve created our accounts, we can install and activate OpenDNS and Covenant Eyes.
Install OpenDNS on your router. OpenDNS is activated with a simple change on your home router and managed through an online interface at www.opendns.com. You will need to refer to OpenDNS to learn how to change the appropriate settings. As soon as you do this, your filtering will be activated. Just like that, you are already beginning to protect your family.
Install Covenant Eyes on every laptop and desktop computer in your home. Visit www.covenanteyes.com, log in to your account, download the appropriate software and install it. Log in to each account on each computer and ensure that the Covenant Eyes software is running properly (look for the “open eye” icon).
Mobile Devices. If you have decided to allow browser access on your mobile devices, install the Covenant Eyes browser on those devices (typically by visiting an app store and downloading the app). Note: If you wish to have Covenant Eyes on mobile devices, you also need to use parental controls (see below) to block access to any other browser on those devices.
Gaming Consoles. Remove internet browser access on all gaming consoles. Also consider removing access to YouTube, Netflix and other video sites.
Other Devices. Return to your inventory list and see what other devices you need to account for. Your plan will only be as strong as its weakest point.
Step 4: Apply Parental Controls.
Set parental controls on all mobile devices. To make this effective on devices owned by your children, you need to set a parental control password and use this password to ensure only you have access to the parental controls.
Here are the settings I recommend for devices used by children:
- Ensure devices lock as soon as they’re no longer in use.
- Turn off web browsing. If your children need web browsing, install the Covenant Eyes browser and use parental controls to block access to all other browsers.
- Turn off the ability to install new apps without inputting your password.
- Turn off the ability to change their own password or account information.
- Consider turning off Facebook, Twitter and other social media apps (since these apps often have a built-in browser that will allow them to visit web sites while bypassing all accountability software).
- Consider turning off camera access if you’re concerned your child may misuse. Be especially cautious with applications that combine social media with a camera (Snapchat, Instagram, etc.).
Congratulations! You made it through this part of the porn-free family plan. You know what devices are in the home, and you’ve accounted for each one by installing filtering and accountability software. There’s just one problem: Everyone in your family is upset with you! So now it’s time for that family meeting.
