so my little brother is now 11.. wants his own comp in his room....

U

umcpgrad

2[H]4U
Joined
Apr 2, 2004
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anyway I can protect him?
like what kind of filters I should be setting on IE
and any softwares that might be free that will limit his internet usage?
any options in windows to do that?
thanks in advance for the help :)
 
Assuming your parent(s) have the final say... encourge them to say no.

Keep the computer in a publicly viewable area.
 
I think you should not allow an 11 year old with a computer in his own room. Just asking for trouble right there.

Just keeping the PC in public view is good enough to limit his internet access.
 
umcpgrad said:
my parents are for it too now...

supposely for hws and etc..
:rolleyes:
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You could always tell your parents that you are worried he will become a porn addict if he has a pc in his room.
 
I guess if you never look at the PC to see what he's doing I'd agree with all these opinions, but if you just use common sense it'll be fine. My son has had his own computer since he was 4. He had it in his room until he was 6 and since then it's been in our "office" with my computer and my wife's computer. He goes into the office by himself and uses the computer often, but I had a nice long talk with him about internet usage and then I go in every couple days and look at his history. Not a single porn site on it. The only thing I have a problem with is getting him to not download every single thing that looks interesting to him, but I have an image of his computer that I can toss on there at any time, plus he also has a 2nd hard drive with a backup of a lot of his game files. He's now 10 and I have no problems at all with how he uses the computer and trust him a great deal. You shouldn't have to worry until he hits 13 or so, THEN he'll need filtering software to keep him outta the pr0n... :p
 
1. Drop some ubuntu on that box. It will help with his homeworks and save many a head pain :D
2. Redirect all myspace traffic to a site of your preference
3. Sit back relax and enjoy :)

*note: If you do get to put ubuntu (or any other linux distro) make sure to change the default file format for open office to the .doc file so you don't get any "I need windows. I can't bring my word files to school".
 
NetNanny's designed for this sort of stuff. It has a free trial -- check it out.
 
Madwand said:
NetNanny's designed for this sort of stuff. It has a free trial -- check it out.
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yeah there are tuns of programs out there like that
 
...or any type of web sense program, such as smoothwall, m0n0wall, and the like. ;)
 
From a support stand point, I agree with putting a linux distro on there. However, it all depends on what he wants it in his room for. Games? Web browsing? Email?

My inclination is to trust a child until proven otherwise; That's probably what I'd do here.
 
XOR != OR, you must not have any kids... lol

My daughter has a PC in her room, its also sitting right in line with the door, so I can see everything she does from the living room couch.

Keep it so the screen is facing the door, even if you can't see it from outside the room, that'll be a little incentive to keep it clean, all teenagers want to play, just a fact of life and matter of time.

Personally, I still won't let my daughter have an email address. I've set up a few email addresses I've never used and gotten bardyard fun (people, not animals, looked kind of interesting actually) and all sorts of porn.

It has gotten better, but I still get stuff every now and then. The Feds, with their dumbass "Can Spam Act", opened the door. They are too stupid to realize they can't enfore moderation, only on or off.
 
should I download any of the aol, or msn browser crap that suppos to protect kids? from online creeps? and xrated crap?
 
I've got a handful of customers on AOL, spyware, porn, etc, gets through their filters.
 
a device that sits in front of all internet traffic that filters by keyword is usually the best. Only if your son is researching something should it get in the way. But that can be handled on a case by case.
 
I setup a computer for a family with 3 small kids.
1) it is in the same room as the parents' computer
2) I set it up with a limited account in Windows
3) Had the customer purchase/I installed Net Nanny.
 
ValeX said:
Is it actually possible to become truly addicted to pornography? I've never heard of an actual case in real life.....anyone else know someone personally who this has happened to? It seems odd to me....
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Ever known anyone addicted to gambling? Pretty similar, do action X, produce feeling Y. Repeat at the expense of all other actions.
 
ValeX said:
Is it actually possible to become truly addicted to pornography? I've never heard of an actual case in real life.....anyone else know someone personally who this has happened to? It seems odd to me....
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There is a guy on Howard who is addicted to it. He is also a porn historian and he knows his shit!
 
dialup is SUCH a good porn/illegal downloads blocker, like impossible to hit those sites on dialup, and one thing ive realized is that kids dont have the paitence to wait for them to load.

and yeah, i agree, linux them while they are still young!
 
I fail to understand this Linux craze for a kid's computer. While I think it's great to have him learning something that could possibly help him get a nice IT job later in life, it's totally not necessary unless you're going to dual boot the system. My advice is to see what the school he goes to uses and go with that. If they have PC's with WinXP, then load that. If they have Macs, then get him a Mac with the same version OS. That way he becomes used to the computer the way he'll be using it at school, which will be a definite plus. Like I said, if you really want him to learn Linux, dual boot it and he can become computer literate in more then one OS. If he's going to have his own system, he should at least be using whatever OS will help him be the most literate at what he'll actually use... ;)
 
wtburnette said:
I fail to understand this Linux craze for a kid's computer. While I think it's great to have him learning something that could possibly help him get a nice IT job later in life, it's totally not necessary unless you're going to dual boot the system. My advice is to see what the school he goes to uses and go with that. If they have PC's with WinXP, then load that. If they have Macs, then get him a Mac with the same version OS. That way he becomes used to the computer the way he'll be using it at school, which will be a definite plus. Like I said, if you really want him to learn Linux, dual boot it and he can become computer literate in more then one OS. If he's going to have his own system, he should at least be using whatever OS will help him be the most literate at what he'll actually use... ;)
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better yet, get him a new intel mac and triple boot it! :p
 
wtburnette said:
I fail to understand this Linux craze for a kid's computer. While I think it's great to have him learning something that could possibly help him get a nice IT job later in life, it's totally not necessary unless you're going to dual boot the system. My advice is to see what the school he goes to uses and go with that. If they have PC's with WinXP, then load that. If they have Macs, then get him a Mac with the same version OS. That way he becomes used to the computer the way he'll be using it at school, which will be a definite plus. Like I said, if you really want him to learn Linux, dual boot it and he can become computer literate in more then one OS. If he's going to have his own system, he should at least be using whatever OS will help him be the most literate at what he'll actually use... ;)
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The idea is not to make him learn any. Just to keep him spyware and virus free ;)
Also to keep his mits off them games :p
 
You know, I'm only 16. Got my first computer at 10. Been in my room since. I've never done anything stupid. I keep my shit in line and I get rewards like privacy online. My grades slip, there goes privacy. They take my keyboards/mice/monitors away to begin with if I screw up on the rare occasion that I do. My sister on the other hand, just got her first computer at 13, and it has all sorts of anti this anti that crap on it. And her account lets her do shit. That's just because of the type of person she is. I say, if the kid is trustworthy, then let him have it. If he's a little jerk, and is always testing the limits, don't. Granted, he's going to look at porn eventually, we've all done it. We all ooh'd and aww'd and then we grew up. 'Tis life I'm afraid. So if the kid is good, give him rewards, if he's not, don't give him shit. But please, for the sake of every person growing up, don't be uptight about it. Protecting kids is one thing, but cutting them off from things that will infact help them grow into a much more mature person, like contact with weirdos, you never know what its like until it happens. It is a kid by kid decision.
 
ValeX said:
. I think independence is ultimately more beneficial to a teenager than strapping them down in a seat, telling them EXACTLY what to do, all the time, and never letting them think things through for themselves. I know kids like that, once they leave home it's gonna be rough.
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As with many of these types of discussions be careful not to paint it as two extremes.
 
Eh... I'm 19 and went through the whole getting the comp in my room. I had to prove to my mom that I could be trusted with it (I hid it well :p). I think the game of hide and seek can be very educational to kids. Learn to hide that porn or else! Got me into the whole computer scene. I say put linux on the box more to lessen the headaches of supporting it. I remember the old days of kazaa and a virus infected box (and gobs of spyware). I dunno if the kid is motivated to search out and get involved with the computer any OS will do and he will learn. If not give him a linux distro and save a headache.
 
How did you do it? I got caught this one time when I was 12, so I got smart and started putting all of my pr0n into a folder named 1021 in my windows 32 folder.
 
Malk-a-mite said:
As with many of these types of discussions be careful not to paint it as two extremes.
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Yeah, but he has a point. A lot of parents and older siblings seem to forget what life was like at that age. Either that or remember themselves as hellions and want to protect their kids/siblings from that. You can't protect someone all the time, but you can go too far. Everyone needs certain life experiences. If you've drilled what's right into them, you have to give them the chance to prove they've learned from time to time... ;)
 
CompuGeek said:
How did you do it? I got caught this one time when I was 12, so I got smart and started putting all of my pr0n into a folder named 1021 in my windows 32 folder.
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Zip disk that I kept under my bed :D
 
setup ipCop with one of the proxies and force the use of it with a GPO, make him a regular user so he cant change things.Then you can findout every place he visits if you want to keep it open or setup a white list of places he can visit.
 
Danny Bui said:
I think you should not allow an 11 year old with a computer in his own room. Just asking for trouble right there.
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Yeah. I had a computer in my own room since I was six, and look how I turned out!
 
i wouldnt put too much worry into this with good parenting, obvioulsy youre thinking about how to protect your kid so im going to say youre an active parent and i think thats really the most important thing. id go with just a simple winxp machine, set him up as a limited user and then just download a host list from the sites around the internet. talk with him about internet predators and you should be okay, if youre still worried, install MSN, yahoo and all that crap under an adminitrator account then set the permissions on the folder so that he cant access them. that way he wont be able to install them either since he wont be able to write to the folder. there are always ways around that i guess, but its a start.
 
Danny Bui said:
I think you should not allow an 11 year old with a computer in his own room. Just asking for trouble right there.

Just keeping the PC in public view is good enough to limit his internet access.
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i dont think theres any problem with have a computer in your room, i had my commodore 128 in my room when i was 8, and more than likely was one of the key reasons for taking such a keen interest in them, and eventually landing a job in the networking\it field. ill admit, looking at porn on a commodore 128 isnt what it is now, but i think computers arent necessarly that bad. specially if you setup time when he can use the internet, like say from 4-6pm so when hes going to bed he cant get up and surf porn and talk sites while youre sleeping
 
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