teenage proofing the internet

Uniscots97

Hi All,
we want to get broadband at home. I'm looking for 2 things here

1) Advice on the best pay as you go broadband package.

2) Teenage proofing it. i.e. completely blocking certain sites (she's good at getting round blocks placed at school on Bebo and the like even though we've said to her don't do it as thats not what school's for!). I need a decent FREE anti-virus, spam blocker, and way to block certain sites so she can't get into them at all. Also a way of preventing the history from being deleted so we know EXACTLY what she's been going into. (she has a history of visiting inappropriate sites).

DatabaseError

1. payg broadband can be very expensive!
2. put the pc next to the tv and look over her shoulder

Cranky

I had a simalair problem and was reccomended to do this http://www.opendns.com/
It truly is easy and fantastic..... Your BB connection goes though this site and as long as you password protect everything she won't be able to change the settings. You simply decide what sites can be visited or not.

Keeping your family safe online can be a daunting task. Luckily there's OpenDNS, the easiest way to filter unsafe Web sites on your home network.
OpenDNS Parental Controls divide the Internet's content into more than 50 categories. Simply choose your desired filtering level, from "High" to "Minimal," and check a box. Your filtering preferences take effect in just minutes. Further customize your preferences by adding additional categories or individual Web sites that are problematic or unsafe for your household.
OpenDNS Parental Controls, recommended by industry experts, require no appliance and setting up is a breeze.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1058965&highlight=blocking+sites my issue same subject

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/free-anti-virus-software anti virus

Uniscots97

if pay as you go is expensive what are my other options? I didn't really want to be tied to a contract. Who's the best out there?

phatbear

As far as teenage proofing a pc you are going to struggle, I've played with filters. blocked key words on the router etc all of which done nothing thanks mainly due to the overwhelming amount of proxy servers easily available on t'internet, the only systems that do seem to work will mean you will be up and down all evening inputting passwords because one of the meta tags on the site they want/need to go on has triggered an alert.

My solution to this age old prob was this, given that I was already the administrator on their stand alone pc, i told them what i expected them not to be looking at and doing on t'internet, easy eh!!! Of course kids being kids will push the boundaries but this is easily solved by banning them for a period of time due to them breaking the rules.

The problem is you may stop your kids looking at "stuff" on your pc but i can assure you there will be other less caring parents who give their kids free reign, oddly enough in our case its the kids father (biological) who doesnt seem to give a fudge about their welfare, including allowing them to watch 18 rated horror movies, even tho the youngest has just turned 13.

all the best

the bear

aliEnRIK

Is it vista or xp?
Vista has the option of recording her activity even IF she deletes the history (Though she would need her OWN login for it to work)

as for free anti virus, AVG, AVAST and AVIRA are the big 3 freebies

aliEnRIK

unixgirluk wrote: »

if pay as you go is expensive what are my other options? I didn't really want to be tied to a contract. Who's the best out there?

If you have sky its free (with limits)

Its usually cheapest combining the phone with the broadband package (TALK TALK for example)

Idiophreak

unixgirluk wrote: »

2) Teenage proofing it. i.e. completely blocking certain sites (she's good at getting round blocks placed at school on Bebo and the like even though we've said to her don't do it as thats not what school's for!). I need a decent FREE anti-virus, spam blocker, and way to block certain sites so she can't get into them at all. Also a way of preventing the history from being deleted so we know EXACTLY what she's been going into. (she has a history of visiting inappropriate sites).

The only real way to get this working is to be able to trust her to monitor herself...

If she's proven herself to be untrustworthy at school, I wouldn't bother even letting her try at home - if she needs access for homework or whatever, stand over her and see what she's doing....treating her like a little kid will wind her up quite a lot, but get across the importance of being able to trust her. After a while, tell her that you're going to give her your trust, give her a chance to prove herself - but make it clear that you don't want her looking at X, Y and Z - and that you don't want her meddling with the history.

Check the history every so often, if it's empty, ban her for X weeks again - and repeat. Could even go to some of the sites you don't want her on yourself - and see if the entries remain in the history.

Beyond that, you can (as above) ban keywords in the router - had moderate success with that (although, in my case, it's for use the other way round - I banned my mother from looking at certain sites...damn neighbours spoilers )...you could also buy a keylogger etc if you *really* want to know what she's up to...

But all these techy solutions really aren't a substitute for good old fashioned trust...

phatbear

Ooooo keyloggers are good installed one a few months ago and havent looked back, just dont tell the kids.

One maykor downside with a keylogger is probing too far, if you have your daughters email password do you "accidentaly" have a quick lookie lookie? Suppose its all a matter of trust.

all the best

the bear

aliEnRIK

Where do I find a good 'keylogger'?

studiorex

As for blocking sites, my advice is to monitor their use, establish acceptable boundaries and 'trust' them to be responsible. If they can't then they can't use the internet for a while, simple. If they're using methods to get around the school's proxy servers then getting around anything installed on your PC is going to waaay too easy for them.

Try and get DD to be responsible, she may surprise you...