Protecting your children from the internet, what do you guys do?

[V6UnderPressure]

I am due to have a daughter by around two weeks. This is also my first child!:biggrin: While I know it is soon to start thinking about this, my fatherly instincts would like to get a jumpstart. What do any of you guys recommend as far as protecting your children from adult sites? I keep reading about monitoring programs but to me it doesn't matter if you see what they are looking at, because by that time they have already seen it. Is there any parental controls that you guys recommend? The AOL one seems cheesy and I have already set one up and tested it, and to me, there are ways around it. Thanks all!!!

Scott

 

[WeAreVenom]

Does she HAVE to have access to the internet? If/when I have kids they won't see the internet except at school or when I'm standing over their shoulder.

 

[Clark Porter]

Keep the computer in a public area-living room or kitchen.

 

[TexasT]

If you think you can control him/her, I think you are in for a very rude awakening. The best you can do is teach them the difference between right and wrong. This in my opinion must be accomplished by the time they are 6 years old. If you wait too long to start you will have missed the opportunity.

Even if you are able to 'control' them at home, if you don't teach them, when they go out into the real world they won't have the knowledge to make educated decisions. This will result in bad results. Think about the people you knew in school who's parents tried to control all aspects of their lives and how badly they failed at real live when they got out there.

Remember talking to your children and not at them will result in a relationship where they will come to you for advice. If you alienate them they will go elsewhere for information you need to provide them with. Don't lie to them. Once you get caught it is hard to get the trust back just as when they lie to you.

On track with the original question, we have our home computer in the living room area. I have no limiting software but my children know what is right and what is wrong. I don't go through the history to find out where they have been. I don't feel it is necessary. They are kind of self policing.

 

[V6UnderPressure]

:biggrin: Yeah, the kids probably won't see the computer until about 10 years! So I have a while yet. Just like to be prepared. I guess the being a daddy for the first time anxiety has kicked in!:biggrin: I just got to messing with the parental controls on my AOL here, and it just doesn't seem like it truly blocks everything. Maybe I just need to play some more. I do have some relatives that will be getting around that age, and if they are over, it would be nice to know that they are protected as well.

 

[rmar]

I know that Vista has tons of different lock outs for kids.
You can go in and set it up for about anything. I have one at home for
my grandson and I love it. My login is password protected. I can control
everything he is allowed to look at or download or how long he can be on it.

 

[Ms. FastNasty]

I know that Vista has tons of different lock outs for kids.
You can go in and set it up for about anything. I have one at home for
my grandson and I love it. My login is password protected. I can control
everything he is allowed to look at or download or how long he can be on it.

+1
My 5 year old has recently gotten really interested in the Playhouse Disney website. If you have the right software on your computer (I run XP) you can block specific website, IP addresses, as well as "key words/phrases". I'm pretty computer savvy, so I've got mine set up in a way that I know he can't get to anything I don't want him to. Granted, he's five...and I'll beef things up as he gets older. But at this stage of the game, I'd be more worried about how much sleep you're not going to be getting in the very near future! :biggrin:

 

[JOHNDEEREGN]

After talking to our sons about the basics, we understand there is still potential for threats.

We are getting ready to try this..

Bsafe Online Family Filter

 

[Louie L.]

Guys,
Although I do not directly work with computer crimes, I deal with sexual offenders on a daily basis.

Check out this site:

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

I attended a class with these folks and they are top notch. navigate thru all the links , you will find waht you need. There are lots of links on how to protect your children from computer predators. Some of it is pretty basic but its all really good. They even have cartoons that teach your children lessons on basic safety.

 

[V6UnderPressure]

Guys,
Although I do not directly work with computer crimes, I deal with sexual offenders on a daily basis.

I am sure you do! I looked at the Florida rate of offenders per million people and I think it was the highest???!!!

 

[Louie L.]

As of February I believe we had over 45,000 in Florida with a projected 7-10% increase yearly!

If you are referring to the Map on the site with the sexual offenders per citizen, it a very scary map. Look at even the smallest US territories. Every one has a problem. I have 2 of those maps saved , and the increase from one to the other was substantial.

 

[V6UnderPressure]

As of February I believe we had over 45,000 in Florida with a projected 7-10% increase yearly!

If you are referring to the Map on the site with the sexual offenders per citizen, it a very scary map. Look at even the smallest US territories. Every one has a problem. I have 2 of those maps saved , and the increase from one to the other was substantial.

What do you find the most offenses to be? We have a couple in my neighborhood who are really close.

 

[GNICETRY]

You are ABSOLUTELY INSANE if you have kids and do not have some kind of porn filter or blocker on your computer. INSANE!

The average age to view porn is 5 years old. There are 9 year olds addicted to it. NetDog is a good free program. It does HELP, not eliminate, the problem. The best way is to educate your children and teach them right from wrong as someone had posted. If they are determined they will find a way, just try to minimize that exposure. I have a free PopUp stopper also that can be downloaded.

There are websites that change a letter or 2 in a child's website address and they are porn sites. Porn makes more money a year then the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB combined. It really is the alcoholism/crack of the next generation.

Cell phones are another big item for porn viewing via text messages. As parents we have a BIG responsibility now.

Another thing I do is role play with my kids if someone comes up to them. Never get in a car. Don't trust someone with a badge and no uniform or marked car. Ask them why would an adult ask them where a street is or to find a dog or some BS. I have them yell and scream and curse at me if I am role playing to try to abduct them. They really love that:biggrin:
If you see ANY kid that is screaming "F*^k you, a$$hole, you are not my mother, you are not my father" 99.99% of the people will either do something or call the police. A big thing these cowards do is to say get in the car and you won't get hurt. Make sure your wife or kids know, once they get in the car, they are DEAD. The more noise you make and commotion, the better. Even if they have a gun, the odds are they will not use it and if they do, it is even slimmer that you will get hit and seriously injured.

Unfortunately there are a lot of bad people out there and children and women are becoming more 'sought' after and looked at as objects of pleasure due to the wonderful porn industry.

 

[scottyb]

I'm sure there will be vast changes in the technology by the time she is surfing. My daugher is 9 and I don't let her surf unsupervised yet. When I'm ready for that step, I'll install an equivalent to "netnanny" or "cybersitter". I'm sure if you go to the website of "Pc computing" or "PC World" et al, you can read reviews on all the popular filtering software available and the features they provide. I checked for my cousin who has teenage boys a few years ago and the going rate was ~$40.00 for good software at that time.

 

[Nick McCardle]

With a daughter I would hope that your main concern is not allowing her access to a camera until she's out on her own.

 

[Little6pack]

Pull the wireless card

 

[JOHNDEEREGN]

Pull the wireless card

Welcome to 10 years ago, thats like saying hide the bullets............... As far as my kids go I have great kids and am taking more precations than that..... see above post.....

 

[JOHNDEEREGN]

I apologize little6, my above reply sounds like I was being a prick, was not my intention....