OT: Internet Parental Control Software

[who's ur daddy?]

Just wondering what people here do re: protecting kids from the crazy Internet world.

One part I think could be Internet control software.

Another part could be just restricting physical access to computers to specified times in a public part of the household?

Let me know what you guys do...

TIA.

 

[Disney_lovers]

I'm using Kaspersky Internet Security Parental Control for my teen DD. I use mostly to limit time spent on Internet, one hour on school days. Also you can restrict some web site types; check reports on a daily basis with internet browsing history; limit and allocate time when computer or internet can be used. Very often you can buy software on sale for $20-$30 and it's good for 3 computers for one year.

 

[potion2]

First thing to do is talk to your kid about safety online, kids must know the basics like how much information can be shared online (like phone numbers, addresses) and whether it is ok to talk to or befriend strangers online...these things are very important because being behind a computer screen gives children a false sense of security.

I think having the computer in a public part of the household is a good idea if you can implement it (i.e. your kid is young enough) and also may not be enough since you can't keep an eye on them all the time...parental controls however will let you keep track of all your child's activity online so you know when there is something you should talk to them about. If you are using Windows 7 you can try the built in parental controls which you can find in your control panel, there are also some free services that will offer you basic protection against inappropriate content like OpenDNS or if you want more advanced programs with screenshots and keyloggers...etc you can try HomeGuard Parental Control tools.

 

[Tower]

I think having the computer in a public part of the household is a good idea if you can implement it (i.e. your kid is young enough) and also may not be enough since you can't keep an eye on them all the time...parental controls however will let you keep track of all your child's activity online so you know when there is something you should talk to them about.

Very much agreed! DSIL is divorcing and her ex and her both allow their 2 kids (9 & 11) to have computers online in their rooms. The parents are doing this so that they are 'the favourite parent' to their children. Too many opportunities for bad things to happen in those situations. Our kids may be angels, but what about those kids that go play in your child's room?
We use Net Nanny and it works well for our 3 kids. I set the amount of Internet time per day per child and the times they are allowed to be on. (For us, not before 9:00 on weekday mornings and not before 7AM on weekends. No later than 9:00PM any evening in order to avoid loud noises while other family activities are happening close by.

 

[Stitch'sCousin]

We use set times for the computers to be used and they are to be used in a public part of the house where we can see the sites they are on.

 

[Iris82]

Bit late to this discussion but new on here and just having a look around the forum.
This is something I've been talking about this week with some friends who have teenagers, as they've just downloaded some monitoring software, I think it was this... http://www.refog.com/hardware-keyloggers.html and they haven't looked at what it's recorded, not sure they will, but it shows what websites etc their kids go to as well as recording chats and the knowledge that it's all recorded might be enough to make the kids think twice about what they don online? I suppose you can talk to your kids as much as possible but what if they have friends round and those friends don't have the same rules at home? It's a tough subject, we want our kids to have freedom but they still need our protection too until they're old enough to make their own judgements.