parental controls software

[jay clock]

My 9 year old stepson apparently stumbled across a very inappropriate website today whilst looking for you tube videos. This is something we are keen to avoid.

Anyone got any good software suggestions as to how to avoid this?

http://www.parentalcontrolbar.org/ looks quite good. The main pc he uses is XP, but we also have a Vista machine, plus two netbooks with Linux, so suggestions for any or all of these would be great.

J

 

[Crackle]

Kidswatch, Netnanny are two good ones. Probably Netnanny has it on content, Kidswatch on limiting programs, internet time access and program control.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

i use intego content barrier on the mac, don't know if it works with windows, but it's good. [edit, it doesn't].

another good mac feature is that i can literally see what's going on on the upstairs mac from my laptop downstairs. finding the balance between monitoring and privacy is harder as dd gets older though.

 

[Carwash]

Safeeyes is very good.

Be careful of some of them. We activated the one that Virgin provides. It seems that they have a little angry man who selects which sites he will let you see at random. It blocks everything sometimes.

I very much like the idea of home web censorship software controlled by a little angry man, acting vindictively and seemingly arbitrarily. Do you know if they have any openings? I feel that work like that could offer me great job-satisfaction.

 

[Batzman]

If you're using Vista,

It actually has excellent built-in parental controls. (you can limit the time they can use the computer e.g. between the hours of 5pm-8pm), limit which sites they can access, limit which programs they can run, and will provide you with a report of their activity. *and* most importantly you don't have to bog your machine down with questionable add-on software.

Go to control panel, User Accounts, and there's an option there to set it up.

 

[saty]

My 9 year old stepson apparently stumbled across a very inappropriate website today whilst looking for you tube videos. This is something we are keen to avoid.

Anyone got any good software suggestions as to how to avoid this?

http://www.parentalcontrolbar.org/ looks quite good. The main pc he uses is XP, but we also have a Vista machine, plus two netbooks with Linux, so suggestions for any or all of these would be great.

J

Try this http://www.untangle.com works very well and is free.

 

[Anelly]

Try Application Blocker Pro. The application allows you to block all browsers or only specific ones, or only specific websites, applications (chat, p2p etc). You can define time sessions during which your child to be or not blocked. It's a good application. You can read more about this parental control here: http://www.applicationblocker.com

 

[nilling]

I'd would never rely on software alone for my pre-teen which is why the laptop is in the front room. I am more concerned about IM than YouTube.

 

[Willow]

I have a piece of software called network magic which I originally bought to help set up my wireless network. the good thing about this now we are all up and running is that it emails me each day with details of the amount of time spent on the computer, what websites have been visited and what games played. Fortunately at the moment football manager is as sinister as it gets but and I control the time they use the screens. I do use the parent controls from BT who our internet is with and DS1 has vista so some of those controls are used too.

 

[ACS]

May I recommend that you visit the ThinkUKnow web site regarding your concerns, well constructed, sensible advice about on line child protection? If you son has access to more than one PC then a centralised solution is the way forward. Some of the more upmarket routers have content control software built in to them may be worth investigation. Another solution is software that takes random but frequent screen dumps and places them in an area that is password protected on the hard drive. You show your son how the software works and then you can check his activities at your leisure.