According to the Pew Research Center, about 60% of parents say that they actively monitor the websites that their kids visit. They take a look at these sites to make sure that they’re appropriate for their children.
If you’re not doing this already, you should try to get into the habit of doing it soon. You should also think about trying to block websites that your kids shouldn’t be visiting if you happen to see that they’ve been on them.
It’s going to be difficult to stop your kids from seeing everything that is out there on the internet. There are, of course, more than 1 billion websites on the World Wide Web at this point.
But blocking websites should stop them from seeing at least some of the bad stuff that exists. It’s why you should make it a point to do it at some point in the near future.
Here is how to make blocking unwanted websites possible.
Decide Which Websites You Want to Block
Before you begin trying to block websites so that your kids can’t access them, you’re obviously going to need to figure out which websites that you want to block. You should try to put together a long list of them so that you have them all ready to go when the time comes.
You can do this by checking out the websites your kids are already visiting and seeing if any of them should be blocked. You can also do it by brainstorming some of the different websites that you would personally like to see them stay away from. You should be able to come up with lots of websites that you want to block your kids from when everything is all said and done.
Block Websites on Your PC or Mac
When you’re first trying to block websites on your computer, you might be tempted to try and do it right through your web browsers. You can do it that way (and we’ll let you know how to do it in a few moments), but you can also block websites right through your computer.
If you have a PC, you’ll want to follow these steps:
- Click the Windows logo on the bottom of your screen and search for the Notepad app
- Open the Notepad app up in administrator mode
- Click the “File” button in the Notepad app, then click the “Open” button, and find your way to the “Etc” folder
- Click the “Text documents” button, then click the “All files” button, and remove the security settings from the file labeled “Hosts”
- Select the “Hosts” file, click the “Open” button, and create a new line all the way at the end of the document
- Type in any websites that you would like to block from your PC and replace the “Hosts” file with your edited version
- Clear your PC’s cache and restart your web browsers to make sure you’ve blocked websites properly
If you have a Mac, you’ll want to follow these steps:
- Open Spotlight and search for the Terminal app
- Open the Terminal app and then open the “Hosts” file
- Enter the password for your Mac and move your cursor down to the last line of the page that appears
- Type in any websites that you would like to block from your Mac
- Save the work that you did and close down the Terminal app
- Clear your Mac’s cache and restart your web browsers to see that you’ve blocked websites in the right way
These processes might seem a little complicated at first. But after you get the hang of them, you shouldn’t have any trouble blocking websites in a matter of seconds.
Block Websites on Your Preferred Web Browsers
Would you prefer to block websites through your web browsers rather than doing it directly through your PC or Mac?
It’s worth noting that there are some browsers, like Internet Explorer and Safari, that won’t allow you to do this. But if you use Google Chrome or Firefox on a regular basis, they will both make it possible for you to block websites whenever you want to do it.
To block websites on Google Chrome, you’ll need to work your way through these steps:
- Open up the Block Site page through Google Chrome
- Click “Add to Chrome” when prompted to do it and then click the “Add extension” button, the Block Site icon, and a button that says “Edit block sites list”
- Enter the websites that you want to block one at a time
- Click the “Password protection” button and check the box that says “Require a password to access Block Site menu”
- Create a password and write it down so that you remember it moving forward
To block websites on Firefox, you’ll need to work your way through these steps:
- Open the Block Site page through Firefox
- Click the “Add to Firefox” button, the “Add” button, the Block Site icon, and the “Edit block sites list” button
- Enter each of the websites that you would like to block
- Click the “Password protection” button and check the “Require a password to access Block Site menu” button
- Come up with a password and save it so that you can refer back to it in the future
A lot of people find that blocking websites by taking one of these approaches is much easier than doing it through their PC or Mac. But you’re welcome to use whichever approach you like the most.
Block Websites With Special Apps
In this day and age, there is, as they say, an app for everything. And that includes apps for blocking websites.
If you would like to put one of them to the test, you can see what some of your options will be by visiting https://setapp.com/. You can learn more about some of the apps that will help you block websites with ease.
Blocking Websites Is a Lot Easier to Do Than You Might Think
Now that you know how to block websites, you should go ahead and do it so that your kids aren’t allowed to access sites that might not be appropriate for them. You should also consider blocking websites that might be having a negative impact on you.
If you’re having a tough time maintaining your productivity while on your computer doing work because of all the distractions on the internet, you can remove them from your life by blocking websites. Use one of the methods that we’ve talked about here to get the job done.
Read more informative tech articles by browsing through everything else that our blog has to offer.
