Internet Explorer options for protecting kids online.

alanwjones

Thanks for all the constructive comments on this matter, I will run through all the options available,

To those who had no useful input at all thanks , But at nearly 60 I DO NOT need a lesson in parenting, Been there done that,

The option of using mine is not available as she lives too far away, and her parents arent computer litrate ,

I just wish that some people on here would just stick to the subject, and not try to push the moral issues, Thanks all.
Alan

joe_pesci

Well Blame Strider for that. Sounds like one of those blokes that rings Points Of View to complain about someone useing the word "bloody" before 9pm.

alanwjones

My comments were aimed at Strider if he/she had read my post they'd have seen the word Grandparent before he started his sermon, I think it should come into the real world, kids are kids, were here to show them the way, be it by software or parenting, It's a pity that nowadays it seems that the inmates are taking over the asylum and our kids are no longer allowed the freedom we had. Thanks again

Knub

Joe + Strider - two extremes really. I'd like to think that when I have kids (and being more than computer literate) I will have a right balance.

I've played games and watched films over the age rating as a kid, didn't do me any harm. At the same time, I wouldn't let a 12 year old unsupervised/unrestricted on the internet or watch a film that contains psychologically "adult" content. Kids these days do have a use for technology and saying "what does a child need to use a computer/internet for at 12 years old" is a little naieve.


Aaaaanyway, back on topic; on a new laptop you will have Vista or Win7. Both have much more improved parental controls and web browsing filters. Not only that, but they have history reports and activity logs so you can see exactly which users are going to which sites and what sites they are trying to visit when getting blocked.

I personally wouldn't pay for any software and use a combinateion of this and OPEN DNS. I'm an I.T Professional though.

If you are not so computer literate then software that is easy to configure and have running in the background, k9 does the job and is free.

Elcvh09, I think draconian isn't the word for your methods I'd say more prehistoric / slightly excessive in terms of monitoring/filtering

Realistically if you had a family of 5 all of ages using the internet it would be extremely difficult to monitor them all through logging keystrokes and looking at screenshots. Not to mention waste of storage

scoobysi

bob_a_builder wrote: »

You'd think so wouldn't you, but my 13year old gets round it (K9) regularly
when I check his system from time to time all the blocks have been removed

Same with OpenDNS, keep finding the blocking level has been dropped

Remember how it was only them who could operate the video recorders !

I've just started using Open DNS and it's based around your IP address. As many ISPs allocate dynamic IP addresses i.e. they keep changing, there is a small utility that you can download that runs when you start up your PC that updates Open DNS with your current IP address. If you don't do this you will lose your settings, perhaps this is what's happening?

Cheers
Si

PS. there is also a patch for the update utility ifyou find that it doesn't start up with the PC.

alanwjones

Thanks Knub,
This is the type of input, along with the others above I was looking for,
Having only ever used Win XP pro, I do not have any knowledge of Vista, and was looking for practical advice pertaining to online safety with that product and not the lesson in parenting skills I received from the one poster. Alan. :rolleyes:

Knub

alanwjones wrote: »

Thanks Knub,
This is the type of input, along with the others above I was looking for,
Having only ever used Win XP pro, I do not have any knowledge of Vista, and was looking for practical advice pertaining to online safety with that product and not the lesson in parenting skills I received from the one poster. Alan. :rolleyes:

Vista will do the job as stated then but configuring it all might be a little more work if you don't know Vista/Win7 Sounds like k9 for you.

k9 is also compatibnle with all windows machines. So you could in theory download it now, test it on your computer (get used to it) and then when you get the new laptop be safe in the knowledge that it works in Vista/Win7 and you know how to use it

moneymouth77

I reckon it's more valuable to be honest with kids. Tell them it's OK to be curious but you should be a certain age to go on the site, and keep it out in the open. I've done that with my kids, and they don't go on these site because they don't want to. When it reaches a point where they have laptops, again it's their decision, but we started that thought when they were very young (there are some things out there that there are taboos about, be aware of them).

Knub

bob_a_builder wrote: »

You'd think so wouldn't you, but my 13year old gets round it (K9) regularly
when I check his system from time to time all the blocks have been removed

Same with OpenDNS, keep finding the blocking level has been dropped

Remember how it was only them who could operate the video recorders !

There is always a way around things depending on how computer literate you are. There is only so much you can do for free/on the cheap before you start either having to implement costly/time consuming solutions which are quite frankly a bit OTT to try and keep children safe online.

This is why a reasonable IT solution applied with a bit of good old fashioned, real life common sense go hand in hand, as I am sure you appreciate!

What OS are you on? With Vista I'd implement the parental controls/IE security and lock him down to a standard account (aswell as your current methods). This way he wont be able to change OPENDNS becuase he won't be able to access your network settings. He would probably also have more of a job getting around k9 and with limited ability in terms of system administrative rights.

As I said there is always a way around, but it gets harder. If you are on XP good luck with that

Just a thought, only spotted your comment later on for some reason

demondoctor

The thing is with a lot of security measures is that kids aren't as stupid as you think and can quite often get around them. A quick search on google woould probably give them step by step instructions, and more tech savvy children may be able to just figure it out on their own.

When I was a teenager, my father used to always try and prevent my doing things that I'm not going to go into now but knowing more about computers than anyone in my family it didn't take me long to get around it.
Although I must admit the new parental controls on Vista are pretty good, I put them on my laptop to stop guest users like my mates accessing certain stuff and they never got around them.