Getting to know your children's online world can also help you tailor their Parental Control setting with Custom Controls. For example, you may decide to allow your teen to receive e-mail from AOL accounts only, and block Internet e-mail to their account. This is easy to do with Custom Controls.

Parental Controls are a great way to tailor your children's online experience to what's right for them, but there's no better safeguard than good old-fashioned parental supervision. If you are an AOL member, you can find additional safety tips to keep your online time fun and safe at AOL Neighbourhood Watch.

AOL's Parental Controls Categories
AOL members who are parents of children ages 12 and under, for example, should assign the KIDS ONLY category to their children's accounts. By assigning the Kid's Only category, AOL members can restrict their young children to the AOL Kid's Only Channel, created especially for children 12 and under. A Kids Only account can access age-appropriate content on the Web and interact with others through e-mail and supvervised public forums, such as message boards and special kids' chat rooms. However they cannot send or receive Instant Message" notes (private real-time communications), cannot enter member-created chat rooms, cannot use premium services, and can only send and receive text-only electronic mail (no file attachments OR embedded pictures allowed).

Parents of teenagers might want to select YOUNG TEEN (ages 13-15) or MATURE TEEN (16-17). These provide more freedom, while still preventing access to certain features. Both groups are restricted to Web sites appropriate for their age categories. However, they are also blocked from Internet newsgroups that allow file attachments and they cannot use premium services.

* Young Teens have access to most AOL content and to Web sites that are appropriate for teens. They may communicate with others through e-mail, message boards and visit some chat rooms, but not through Instant Messenger^TM member-created rooms or private rooms.

* Mature Teens have access to all content on AOL and to all web sites except ones with explicity adult content as well as being able to locate others and communicate through chat areas, e-mail and Instant Messaging.

Finally, the 18+ designation provides unrestricted access to all features on AOL and the Internet.

Note: These Parental Controls categories block e-mail attachments for some age groups but do not affect who your children can receive mail from. To control who can and cannot send e-mail to your children, go to KW Mail Controls.

These age groups are guidelines. Since maturity levels of children vary, Parental Controls give you the flexibility to choose the right level of access for your child. For example, some parents may consider their 15 year old a "mature teen," while others may wish to maintain the "young teen" setting. It's up to you.

AOL's Custom Parental Controls
After setting a control level, you can fine-tune the settings by using CUSTOM CONTROLS. This allows you to adjust specific activities, depending on the needs of your child, such as chat, the Web, e-mail, newsgroups and file downloads.

Remember that you may change the categories at any time, so you can adjust your children's access to best accommodate their maturity level or special needs.

AOL's Parental Controls Work by Screen Name
For Parental Controls to work, each child must have his or her own screen name. Your AOL account allows you to create up to seven screen names. When you create a screen name, AOL automatically asks you to set a Parental Control level for that name. To create a screen name, sign on to AOL using the Master screen name for your account. (This is the screen name you created when you first joined the service.) Then click on the Create a New Screen Name button to the right.

If your children already have screen names, you can set access levels by going to KW Parental Controls.

Note: If your children use AOL immediately after you do, please sign off AOL, then close and reopen the AOL software before your children sign on with their own screen name. This ensures that all Parental Control settings will be in effect for that screen name.