Internet Supervision

T

Temp

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I have a daughter (aged 12) who spends time on her computer speaking with her firends (MSN). I trust my daughter it's the weird people she might come across on the net that I have a problem with however she is at an age where her 'dad' looking over her shoulder reading the contents is something neither of us want.

Has anyone implemented somethig with their children that allows them a certain amount of freedom but on the other hand has enough parental supervision ?
 
The best solution is to supervise your daughter's internet usage in person. However if you are looking for technical solutions perhaps these links might be of interest:


[broken link removed]

Also - I'd imagine that the vast majority of parents assume that their children would never be inclined to do anything wrong of their own volition but this is obviously a naive assumption.
 
Parental controls can be introduced to stop access to certain sites or to contain access to pre-selected sites. The problem with the situation you mentioned is that they are using the net to avail of free communication software (MSN messenger in this case) and thus can still come into contact with the "weird people she might come across" through this system.

A relatively cheap solution to supervision can be to hook up the PC to your TV (just a few simple wires to do this). This can allow you or your OH to flick to the AV channel and see exactly what is happening on the PC. It still has the "looking over the shoulder" problem, but no software solution (at least that I am aware of) will totally cut out the chance of random people contacting someone through msn etc.

Discussing concerns with your daughter you can explain the problems (or potential problems as you see them) and ask her to ensure she only chats with her known friends, if this may relieve some of your worries. As much as you do trust your child, everyone does, the knowledge that mum or dad could possibly be watching what's happening may give an extra piece of mind to yourselves.

You'll have to question the issues with Privacy Vs. Security from your own point of view, it's not something anyone else can decide for you.
 
Make sure that computer is in a public area of hse - e.g. sitting room with screen facing out. I'd password protect it to ensure that she's only on the computer while an adult is in the hse. Have you spoken to her about the risks involved - have a look at - I think there's a link to something called 'webwise' which is worth a look. Important to strike a balance between being sensible and alarmist! Most of all, she needs to be aware that you are taking a continuing interest in her on-line activities. Stress to her that nothing she does on-line is secret - she has to be prepared to have it monitored by you/spouse. She might conclude that chatting face-to-face to her mates is potentially less embarrassing! I hope this doesn't sound like i'm a control freak but I do think it's a recreational activity that necessitates continuous low-level supervision.
 
You can also set MSN messenger to save all conversations, isn't this the case? In which case, you could potentially review past conversations. Again, not a solution to the "looking over your shoulder" problem unfortunately.
 
Bear in mind that some technical solutions will only tell you if users were accessing inappropriate content after the fact. If you want to avoid this happening in the first place then supervision is the best bet although certain filters may also work. When it comes to young children it's probably prudent to aim towards not exposing them to inappropriate content in the first place as far as possible.
 
I
car said:
get yourself a key logger. Theres normally more features in the fee based products but you should be ok with the basic.

http://www.kmint21.com/keylogger/
Click to expand...
Be aware that many anti-virus tools will flag these tools and may quarantine thereby rendering them useless.

Education is the best policy in this regards. have a look at the following sites specifically designed for kids browsing the net and developed by those expert in this area.

Irish site aimed at kids as part of the irish Dept of Education online safety campaign http://www.webwise.ie

If you suspect your child has been exposed to illegal content report it via the following site [broken link removed]

Other resources


http://www.kidsafe.com
[broken link removed]
http://www.isafe.org/

http://www.ikeepsafe.org/

How to keep children safe in Chat Rooms http://www.chatdanger.com
FKBKO - For Kids By Kids Online http://www.fkbko.net

C
 
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