Staying on top of your kids these days can be tough. The Internet offers a world of photographs, social networks, and offensive websites that your kids shouldn’t see. Yet, preventing a child from using the Internet altogether is constrictive. After all, the Internet does have an immense amount of useful information that kids can use to create reports, learn, and connect with other peers.

The answer to keeping your kids in line, while online, is to purchase parental control software that works. There is no shortage of this software on store shelves. The trick is to find software that allows you to control what your kids are seeing online at all times. Parental control software can be purchased for around $30 (at the time of this writing).

Net Nanny -- $29+
Reviewers across the board agree that Net Nanny is one of the best parental control programs on the market. This program blocks any threats that might attack a system from the outside, and it also protects against kid-tampering. Try as they might, your children will not be able to disable Net Nanny in any manner. Net Nanny also blocks peer-to-peer networking and some online game sites. Parents also have the added benefit of controlling Net Nanny remotely. Extremely detailed reports can be printed and reviewed at any given time. If you really want to control what your child is doing online, few programs work better than Net Nanny. Note: this program does come with a yearly membership fee, and Net Nanny can only be used on one computer (additional licenses can be purchased for around $20).

Safe Eyes -- $40+
Safe Eyes is comparable to Net Nanny in more ways than one. This program does everything that Net Nanny can do, though it comes with some extra incentives. While Net Nanny can be purchased for Mac, the Mac version of Net Nanny is not as useful as the Windows version. Contrastingly, Safe Eyes works very well with Windows, Mac, iPod and iPad. Essentially, Safe Eyes covers all possible virtual bases. Safe Eyes also comes with three licenses, which means that you can install this program on three different computers (additional licenses can be purchased for around $17). The one drawback to this software is that Safe Eyes does not report in real time (something that Net Nanny does). Still, Safe Eyes is an excellent all-around program, and this program might be considered a better buy than the ever popular Net Nanny.

CyberPatrol Parental Controls -- $30+
CyberPatrol Parental Controls is slightly different from other parental control software. While competing programs block entire websites from children, this program only blocks certain, designated, pages of a site. This feature can be useful if portions of a site do not pose any threat. In addition, CyberPatrol Parental Controls can block children from accessing programs that have already been placed on a computer’s hard drive. As with most other parental control programs, -- remote access is possible with CyberPatrol Parental Control. Unfortunately, this program is only available for Windows.