Internet and kids

[tiggerlover]

Just wondering at what age you allowed your children to have Internet on their computers (in their bedrooms)? I know my son is too young at 10, but I sure am tired of not being able to get on my computer because he is on the Internet. If I were to hook Internet to the computer in his room are there any filters that are available so that I could approve acceptable websites that he can visit and block all the others?

 

[Toby'sFriend]

At 10 any of the major filters such as netnanny will do a good job.
Now as they get older they learn how to get around them, so you'd have to decide how comfortable you feel about that.

Actually my biggest concern really isn't what they see, it is who they are talking to. There are some programs that run invisibly and will keylog their chatroom and message board postings to put in a nice report for the parents to occassionaly glance at. I plead the 5th on that one.

 

[tiggerlover]

Actually my biggest concern really isn't what they see, it is who they are talking to. There are some programs that run invisibly and will keylog their chatroom and message board postings to put in a nice report for the parents to occassionaly glance at. I plead the 5th on that one.

Gosh, how naive am I?! I never even consider at 10 that he would know about or go to chat rooms! UGH.

 

[DVCLiz]

No unsupervised internet in bedrooms until high school at our house. DD got a laptop (required by school) when she entered 9th grade. Until then she used my computer in the den.

I had a dial-up plan which I kept when I added cable access. So DD can use the dial-up connection upstairs while I use the computer downstairs. She complains about her slow connection, but too bad!!! I tried to put a wireless system in this spring, but it seems to have a glitch of some sort, so I'm keeping the dial-up for now.

You just have to decide if you're going to make specific rules for computer use or put enough technology in your house to accomodate everyone. It's easy to say, "Well, I'm paying for it so I'll have first choice..." but when someone has a school project it's tougher. My solution would be another account or a wireless sytem that can handle multiple users.

Yes, there are plenty of filter programs out there. None of them are perfect, but they'll block the major stuff. The most important piece of this is constant attention to what your child does online and reinforcement of family rules, coupled with talks about the dangers that can be out there. And FIRM consequences for infractions.

 

[ZuZugal]

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The most important piece of this is constant attention to what your child does online and reinforcement of family rules, coupled with talks about the dangers that can be out there. And FIRM consequences for infractions.

totally agree. No matter what kinds of filter you use, looking over their shoulder and good communication can stop things before they might get started. My kids are NOT allowed on a website unless I okay it first. I check daily to see what sites have been pulled up on the computer. No one wants to think their child will do anything wrong, and many times it's just curiosity; that's why communication is the key.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

Gosh, how naive am I?! I never even consider at 10 that he would know about or go to chat rooms! UGH.

around here it seems like 5th grade is THE YEAR for discovering IM's, chat rooms, message boards etc. Truthfully location to me isn't really the issue. The computer my 2 older sons use the most for internet is in the Living Room, but even so I simply DO NOT have the time to sit and monitor and they know it.

We've had some wonderful internet battle royales over the years. My oldest lost internet use for a good 5 or 6 months I got so tired of it.