Updated 14 Feb, 2012, 6:01 pm IST

At&T Unveils Website of Parental Control

10 Feb, 2007, 1:00 pm IST | Sharon Khare |

AT&T Inc. has announced a comprehensive Web site of parental controls designed to educate and empower parents. AT&T Smart Limits brings together information for parental control features for the full suite of AT&T services — wireless, wireline, high speed Internet access and video — into one online portal.

The site — located here — provides information and directions on how to use parental controls for wireless, Internet, video and home phone services from AT&T. With features ranging from content controls to channel and phone-number blockers, parental control for these AT&T services help establish boundaries around the technology children use on a daily basis.

"A torrent of information and entertainment comes at us every day from wireless phones and wired phones, from the Internet, and from TV," said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chief operating officer. "With AT&T Smart Limits, we are giving our customers an intuitive, easy-to-use way of learning how to manage this content and decide what is appropriate for their families, especially their children."

Child advocacy expert, Ruth A. Peters, PhD, clinical psychologist and author, indicates that Internet and entertainment technology has widened the communications chasm between parents and children.

"Today's children are more in touch with technology — especially when it comes to wireless services and the Internet," said Dr. Peters. "Parents need to play an active role in how their children use this technology and the content it is capable of delivering. AT&T Smart Limits is an excellent way to help parents play this role."

Results of a recent AT&T survey revealed that 84 percent of consumers believe parental controls and safety tools are extremely or very important to keep children safe while they use today's entertainment and communications technologies, while nearly one-third (31 percent) of those adults do not feel they have adequate knowledge of how to use those tools to protect children from today's threats.

The company plans to enhance AT&T Smart Limits in the future to give people even greater control of the content their families experience.

In conjunction with the launch of AT&T Smart Limits, AT&T plans to continue its customer education program on how to keep children safe when using online, voice and data technology.

Fact sheets regarding Internet, phone and wireless safety are available here.

Tags: AT&T , Internet