Computer software?

zeb

zeb

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I’m looking at getting my step daughter a laptop for her 13th birthday next month, it now seems that all laptops have wifi and would guess like any teenager would want to sit in her bedroom on the chat rooms ect, were as we can keep an eye on her at the moment on the family pc it will be different with a laptop in her bedroom, does anyone know if there’s any software out there to keep an eye on what she’s looking at or chatting too.
 
I think you shouldn't watch and control your daughter.
In my opinion, she have to distinguish the difference between wrong and right by herself.
 
I've not used them but I believe AOL have parental controls that you can set to disallow access to sites you don't like.
 
The parental control can't protect children.
They will be able to find a loophole...
And don't forget
forbidden fruit is sweetest
 
Zeb, yes you do need to at least TRY to protect her if you can.

She is 12 at the moment..........thats not quite like 16 is it. She is a little girl.

I can see your problem, I worried when my boys disappeared upstairs on their laptops but althought they both talk to all their friends on msn all the time... they both say the thought of going into a chatroom and talking to people they dont even know seem weird.

ALthough i believe there is software that can record every stroke of the keyboard.

I think the invasion of her privacy has to be overlooked when her safety is at stake in a big way.
 
There are many software packages out there to monitor / restrict access to the web, your wireless router may even have controls built in.

We used a simple hardware method, all PC use must be downstairs ie study/living/dining rooms. We don't 'snoop' on them but they are aware that any other member of the family could appear behind them at any time.

It's been like that for 3 years now and they accept it, they've had no problems & we don't hassle them :)
 
There is lots of s/w for doing this - NetNanny is one of the best known - just Google for parental control software
 
mrgubby said:
We used a simple hardware method, all PC use must be downstairs ie study/living/dining rooms. We don't 'snoop' on them but they are aware that any other member of the family could appear behind them at any time.
Click to expand...
Bravo! :clap::clap::clap:
Your hardware method is great! :thumbs:
 
My 9 year old has a PC in her bedroom, connected to my wireless network (and thus the internet).

She has MSN on it too.

However, I run VNC software, which means that I can (and frequently do) log in and watch her screen, from my machine. (Without her knowing when I'm doing it....), she knows this can happen at any time.

Also, although she doesn't use MSN alot, she knows that all chat logs much remain intact for me to check randomly. If the chat logs 'go missing' so does her PC access.

And finally, I have installed McAfee SiteAdvisor on her PC, which basically allows me to control what websites she's allowed to visit.
At first, I restricted ALL websites, excepting a few known and trusted ones (Disney, BBC etc).
I then started adding some that she requested (after checking them of course).
Now, I have reversed the software to ban the ones the software thinks are dodgy and let others through. I've given it a thorough testing and it works really well.


elektro, it's not about knowing right from wrong. My daughter knows right from wrong. However, it is my duty to protect her from undesirable activity on the internet. I wouldn't allow her to pick ANY video from a video store, nor ANY book from a library. Nor would I allow her to speak or play with just ANYONE in real life. It's my duty as an adult to teach her how to be safe, and look over her shoulder and guide her until she is old enough to do it herself.

I'm a moderator over at Raising Kids, and this topic crops up all the time.
The concensus is that it is OK to 'snoop' and control childrens internet activity like this. It's not for a want of being nosy or being controlling, it's for the childs own good.
At 9, 12, 14 etc, they are children, and often don't have the mental capacity or maturity to know whether something is safe or not.


So, to summarise, RealVNC for the VNC software (to watch and / or control their computer remotely from another PC), and McAfee SiteAdvisor for the parental controls.
I tested a few, and this was the best of the bunch.
 
Marcel said:
So, to summarise, RealVNC for the VNC software (to watch and / or control their computer remotely from another PC), and McAfee SiteAdvisor for the parental controls.
I tested a few, and this was the best of the bunch.
Click to expand...

Sound advice :)
 
Marcel said:
However, I run VNC software, which means that I can (and frequently do) log in and watch her screen, from my machine. (Without her knowing when I'm doing it....), she knows this can happen at any time.
Click to expand...

Doesn't the VNC icon in the task bar change colour when it's in use? I seem to recall it does, thus meaning the person being viewed could be alerted...
 
I'm not sure. I've never noticed (because I'm on the VNC when Im looking....LOL)
It could possibly do so, however, my daughter wouldn't notice, as she's more interested in watching H20 clips on YouTube :nuts:
 
Even know when I visit my parents it's their house so their rules!

Anyway, you could check out http://www.networklookout.com which I use at work. Very easy to setup and offers realtime monitoring and recording of computers and their desktops. It can be setup for more than one and from your host computer it's like watching one of those CCTV with multiple split screens of all the computers you are monitoring.
 
You know, reading the 'concerned parents' threads makes me think that they worry about their children like they'd worry about precious animals - they love them in a way but want to be in control at least of some things and be informed about everything they do.
It's quite understandable, but for the kids, it's going to be very annoying. Not to mention they'll go to their friend's to browse porn sites :p

Marcel - you're quite the stalker ;)

I think they should learn to be polite not to trust anyone fully, particularly complete strangers, regardless of them being on the streets or on the internet. The rest they can probably handle themselves. Their thinking is not as different from the way adults think, it's the just have less experience and aren't quite as educated (usually ;) ).
Doing the blocking in the router is a good idea, but there are still ways how to get to content you'd prefer them not to see.
 
purpleclouds said:
Sound advice :)
Click to expand...

:agree:

Very sound advice.

In a family enviroment I always advocate for computers to be used in a communial family room as this type of hazard is far more controllable that way but also does not isollate the family members compared to using their own computers in their own room.
 
I don't know of any such soft ware, but can tell you that i made rules( That were kept) to my two young ones, there would be no passwords kept from myself and my wife, if they wanted to keep there laptops then i had rules, I do beleive that children at that age do need protecting from certain issues and web sites.
I told mine that the internet history was NOT to be delted , that way i could keep a close eye on there activities, if they had nothing to hide then it would work. Children are an easy target for those wierdos out there.

We as parents have a duty, and our duty is to look after our youngers.
Call it spying or what you like, there is no way i am going to sit there one day and say IF ONLY.
Prevention is better than cure.

I am glad to say i have full respect from both my daughter and son, they tell me they had no problems with the rules.

So i would say, keep an eye on her activities as one would do if the child goes out to play, make rules....

It worked for me..

good luck.


zeb said:
I’m looking at getting my step daughter a laptop for her 13th birthday next month, it now seems that all laptops have wifi and would guess like any teenager would want to sit in her bedroom on the chat rooms ect, were as we can keep an eye on her at the moment on the family pc it will be different with a laptop in her bedroom, does anyone know if there’s any software out there to keep an eye on what she’s looking at or chatting too.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks very much for all the advice read them all with interest, I think we will end up disabling the wifi on the laptop and let her use the house connection from the family pc downstairs.
Meanwhile will have a look at some of the ideas suggested.
Thanks again
 
A friend of mine uses Zonealarm firewall, and has it configured to deny access to web pages with inappropriate content for his children to view - the software is also password protected, so the little darlings can't get in and change things . . .
 
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