The new rating system shows content based on maturity level. Click on the image to see the full sample report.

Movie ratings have existed since 1930, and game ratings since 1994. But no one has rated the Internet until now.

The Covenant Eyes rating system, released in December, makes it easy for parents to know the age-appropriateness of websites. With a new website being launched every 2 seconds, parents need a tool that helps them keep up with ever-changing threats on the Internet.

“Just as movie ratings are highly important to every movie viewer, ratings of websites will certainly become a household concept for the Internet,” said Ron DeHaas, President of Covenant Eyes.

Covenant Eyes Internet Accountability and Filtering provides reports that show a rating for each web page visited. Now, at a glance, moms and dads can quickly know the maturity level of websites visited and tailor conversations to match their kids’ Internet use and habits.

Ratings include E for everyone, Y for youth, T for teen, MT for mature teen, M for mature, and HM for highly mature.

“It brings the Internet out of muck of moral ambiguity,” said Luke Gilkerson, editor of the blog Breaking Free. “As a society we rate movies and games, and yet the Internet has been an anomaly.”

Covenant Eyes has been providing Internet Accountability reports to its customers for 10 years, but in the past it provided a numerical score for each site. The numerical scores were difficult for some people to comprehend, and often people misunderstood the importance of higher scores. The new rating system is simpler because people are already accustomed to ratings for TV, movies, and video games.

In the coming months, Covenant Eyes will release updates that take advantage of this rating system.

First, Covenant Eyes will allow people to choose the ratings they want to see on an individual’s report. (Read “What does Covenant Eyes monitor?“) For instance, a parent may want to view most website ratings for a child, but may only want to see more mature website ratings for a spouse or an adult friend.

Parents will also soon select filter sensitivity settings based on the new ratings. This will allow parents to easily select a filter setting based on the age or maturity of each member of their family. Even at its least sensitive setting, the Covenant Eyes filter will block sites rated HM (highly mature).

Issue 3 | December 2010 | More stories in this issue: The MySpace/Facebook Mashup | Accountability as a Lifestyle (Part 1) | CT PIR: Understanding Internet Lingo