Spyware, viruses, & security : How do you keep your kids safe online?
- 4/2/07 2:22 PM
How do you keep your kids safe online?
by Lee Koo (ADMIN) - 4/2/07 2:22 PM
CNET recently launched a special Living with Technology feature page: Keep your kids safe online. CNET's guide explores the threats and explains how to help your children surf safely.
This guide is very helpful, and I'd like to bring this up as a topic of discussion.
With more and more growing concerns about children's safety online, what methods do you have in place (through software monitoring and controls or parental guidance and supervision) to keep kids safe online and ensure that they do not fall victim to Net predators, online bullies, and so forth?
Please share your tips and personal methods and strategies in this discussion. And if you've ever had a frightening experience or a close call regarding your kids being online victims, please share those with us, so that we all can get a glimpse of how real this problem is. The more knowledge that parents can share among one another, the better we will all be at protecting our children online.
Thank you!
-Lee
Keeping kids safe on-line
by gg99gg - 4/4/07 3:19 PM In reply to: How do you keep your kids safe online? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The new windows vista home premium comes with a great system. it filters through every site that they go on, stops them from downloading and listening to things without a password that only I know, and it only applys to non-administrator account's, and the account type can only be changed by an administrator! This is the best system to use!
I agree and highly recommended to parents
by Donna Buenaventura - 4/4/07 10:35 PM
In reply to: Keeping kids safe on-line by gg99gg
Parental Control in Windows Vista is one of the new feature in Windows that I will likely recommend to parents. It allows a parent to configure various restrictions on what their kids can do on the computer.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/details/parentalcontrols.mspx
For parents who do not wish to upgrade to Vista (yet), they should use Internet content filtering then personally guide the kids. Don't leave kids unattended even they are at home only in front of the computer with internet connection. There are dangers on the net from porn ads, adult sites, gambling and many more.
Education, interaction, monitoring and protection.
by SurfSafely - 4/14/07 7:15 AM In reply to: I agree and highly recommended to parents by Donna Buenaventura
Most of us who are engaged on the front lines of Internet Safety will chant the same mantra.
Education: Builds competence and confidence, necessary traits when approaching tasks foreign in nature as it is for most parents trying to help guide their children in cyberspace. Cyber what? That place where minds connect via the Internet. Like any physical neighborhood, there are places parents should allow their children to roam for the benefits that it returns, and places they must help them steer clear of for the perils that lurk there.
Interaction: Builds trust. If they don't trust your judgement, they won't follow your direction. Only problem is interaction also takes time; Time many parents are simply too lazy to devote or too burdened with acquiring wealth rather than striving for a higher quality of life. This one comes down to values and priorities. What's more important? Working extra hours to drive a BMW instead of a Ford? Or driving a Ford and having that extra time to spend with your children?
Monitoring: Also part of interaction. Children should know they are under their parents protection which creates a comfort zone for them to operate in. Just as in the real world, so too in Cyberspace. It is generally prudent to incorporate some form of monitoring. Whether it be locating one computer in a heavy traffic area of the home for Internet access or monitoring software, children should know they are accountable for their actions. It is rarely a good idea to install monitoring software secretly. If they find out you have just thrown away a great deal of trust that it may have taken months or even years to build.
Protection: Stuff happens. There's no way to completely avoid it. All one can really do is their best to prevent it. Kids riding their bikes without a helmet are more likely to crack their skull when they fall. The goal is not to fall but to protect in case of the fall. Computers without any filtering or antivirus are more likely to stumble across inappropriate material or contract computer viruses and trojans. For younger children, the TUKI web browser is an ideal part of a parents portfolio of tools. It also makes sense to use a good antivirus product such as Trend-Micro which I personally reviewed at http://www.surfsafely.com/ , filtered search engines such as mine at the same URL which will then branch into Google SafeSearch and other fine resources.
Restrictions: Build distrust, foster resentment and provide incentive to circumvent. By restrictions I mean unreasonably imposed time limits or filtering so tight the only web address one can visit is disney.com. If you reach this point where the child simply will not obey and will circumvent every measure you impose, not even canceling your Internet service and discarding your computer will stop him or her. Children are intelligent and resourceful. They will get their fix at a friend's house or Internet café hotspot. Please go to the top of this post and start over.
Be involved. You can't ignore the Internet and it's not going to go away. It can be a tremendous asset to you and your children or a cesspool waiting to devour. The choice is yours. If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
All the best to you and your families.
Mark Brasche
Founder and CEO
SurfSafely.com
http://www.surfsafely.com/
kids safe online
by je52765 - 4/5/07 12:24 AM In reply to: How do you keep your kids safe online? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
i think they need a domain called .kid that is geared for younger kids.
have only kid stuff. form a panel of teachers and
others, like pediatricians child psycatrists, parents. to judge what is appropriate for young kids. form guildlines to follow for organizations to apply for a .kid domain. keep all the garbage out(limit advertising). you should be able to set a filter that only lets a computer on a .kids only domain. if google can search billions of websites for certian words. there should
be a way to monitor the domain for inappropriate content. if found they
lose their domain. i think registered child preditors should be banned from computers. or forced to filter so they can not get on a .kid domain the authorities can monitor preditors internet use an if found on a .kid site that violates their probation and off to jail they go.
if a child has a email account a parent should be able to set up who is allowed to send incomming(and outgoing) mail. all the rest gets deleted. i wish i can set my email up that way
my daughter has a email account at her school which she can keep in contacted with her friends(and she has been told that every thing she does in email is monitored). i will not let her on myspace or any other
public social website. her social life is with her school friends and her family and the girls she plays sports with. she mostly uses the internet to do research for school. she uses her cell phone to text her friends more than the computer.
Myspace is a waste of time but....
by 22LaLa - 4/11/07 9:04 PM In reply to: kids safe online by je52765...it is very popular with teens and young teens. You may discover that your daughter has a myspace even if you "don't let her". She can set up a myspace and log in at a friend's house. If she gets one (on your home computer) you can set it up so all the messages come into your email account so you can see who is contacting her. You need to learn how to get her password so you can go into her myspace and take a look. You should know how to look at browser history and you should have parental control software on all your computers at home. Your daughter needs to understand that everything she does on her computer at home is monitored (by you) just like at school. You certainly CAN have control of your daughter's email so that she can receive messages only from people YOU approve.
BTW, Myspace does not allow users younger than 13. And users age 13 to 16 are automatically given "private" spaces that can only be seen by people they approve. Myspace is doing more now to keep that environment safe for its users.
so wrong
by uranai - 4/11/07 9:50 PM In reply to: Myspace is a waste of time but.... by 22LaLaI think that is soooo wrong. Teenagers deserver privacy too.
When I was 14 I had a lot of stuff I would not wanted to share with my parents. Safe stuff, like whom did I like and if i believe in santa claus.
Since when is the internet "private"?
by 22LaLa - 4/11/07 11:54 PM In reply to: so wrong by uranaiI was responding to a parent who did not allow his/her child any social internet connection at all. I was suggesting that the parents learn how the internet, IM, chat, texting, etc works so they can allow their daughter to do this stuff safely just like they would teach any other social skill. Like the telephone: they let her use the phone but they don't listen in on conversations because they know who their daughter calls or texts. AND they pay the phone bill where all the phone numbers are listed right on the bill. But if they are clueless about computers how will they have any way to keep her safe or teach her good social skills she needs to learn?
Kids are on the internet far far younger than 14 and if nobody is watching over them, they can end up with some pretty goofy notions.
For example, it seems that someone led you to believe that internet communication is private. When you were a kid, surely your parents taught you that privacy on the internet is an illusion. Not only could nearly anybody easily access your deepest emailed secrets about Santa Claus, but your belief in Santa is STILL residing on a server somewhere and probably on many other computers besides that - even if you thought you deleted that message. The general rule of thumb is not to put anything into an electronic message that you wouldn't want published on the front page of the New York Times.
What is your plan for your children?
Deserve Privacy??
by TerryD64 - 4/12/07 9:07 AM In reply to: so wrong by uranaiChildren and Teenagers especially have absolutely no right to privacy except when using the toilet. As a parent of three kids 23, 21, and 12 I can assure that there were regular room inspections both with and without them knowing it. When challenged by them about their "right to privacy", I reminded them it is NOT their room, it's mine as I pay the bills and I'm the one ultimately responsible for ALL of their activity whether in public or private. I made sure from early on that my children had no right or expectation to privacy while living in my house. While this may seem a bit harsh, I later learned when talking to my children that actually appreciated my concern and involvement in their lives.
Safeguarding your children isn't being nosy or snooping, it's called being a loving, responsible, caring parent.
Regarding the Internet, I have never used any parental control software and I won't install it. The best method is to keep the computer in a publicly accessible space like the family room, den, or office, with the monitor pointed at the door or where anyone else in the room or walking by can see what is going on. When infractions of family rules are encountered (as they inevitably are) the parent is afforded an opourtunity to teach their children the values they feel will help their children in life and how to make their own decisions.
I will never abdicate my role as a parent to a software developer I don't know much less a multi-national conglomerate with it's own agenda.
Yes all human beings deserve privacy
by NeoGaia - 4/29/07 3:09 PM In reply to: Deserve Privacy?? by TerryD64Yes teenagers deserve privacy. The best thing to do is to TALK (wow what a novel idea) about safety on the internet and teach them not to talk to weird strangers who solicit sex.
I am 18 and am a teenager & I think the idea of not allowing social networking is ridiculous. If you educate your kids they will not meet up with child predators.
I think the your "children are your property" idea is completely wrong and ********. You don't own them. If you aren't going to given them some level of privacy they won't develop into healthy adults.
You know they are human beings & not your property.
If someone like you were my parent I doubt I would be able to have felt free enough to write a political blog read by thousands of people & ended up going to Georgetown. (why because kids don't tend to spread their wings or be as creative with their parents breathing down their necks)
American needs to let up on the parents have the right to be awful dictators to their children unless they hit them attitude. Trust & compassion are necessary or your children will backlash.
I go to a private school & those people whose parents gave them some privacy but protected them tend to make better decisions than kids whose parents gave them no privacy (they are the ones who tend to make all kinds of stupid decisions in college because there parents were overprotective.
This is a country about freedom, if you want a country that is about no privacy & complete safety then go to somewhere else cause that is not how this country is.
Mark 1 Eyeball
by Professor Curt - 4/5/07 6:28 AM In reply to: How do you keep your kids safe online? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Technology (hardware and software) is great. But nothing beats the Mark 1 eyeball of a concerned parent. My 2 children are older now, but when they were young the PC was in the living room where I could see what they were doing on-line. I knew the ID's of their on-line friends and, if I didn't recognize a name, I'd ask. I would be watching TV or reading or doing paperwork, and I could look over and see exactly what website they were visiting. I saw no reason to let them have the PC in their rooms; I wanted it where I could monitor what they were doing. They were not allowed on-line when no one was home; and they knew I'd find out if they were!
A concerned parent is still the best Child On-line Protection Act there is.
Amen
by Archus - 4/12/07 6:13 AM In reply to: Mark 1 Eyeball by Professor CurtThis is by far the absolute best recommendation to anyone. I even said as much in my post.
Concerned Parents are the best defense & plug for K9 Filter
by Cruton - 4/13/07 8:14 AM In reply to: Mark 1 Eyeball by Professor CurtAn activiliy concerned parent is the best filter there is. Many parents are scared of "infringing" on the privacy of their kids, but I think that it is hogwash. You can still trust your kids and activily monitor their activity on the net. Also this will prepare them for the workplace where monitoring software will likely track everysite the visit and every email sent or recieved.
We have the K9 Web Filter from Blue Coat on our computers (http://www.k9webprotection.com). The best thing about this program is that it is free to use and we haven't noticed a change in the speed of our connection. If you are looking for a good free filtering service, try out this program.
I like the iBoss filter
by InsertCleverUserNameHere - 4/5/07 8:27 AM In reply to: How do you keep your kids safe online? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have an older teenager, with a PC now in his room. I keep close tabs -- I check his history and downloads frequently, and I use a filter I'm very satisfied with:
I've been using a hardware filter device called the iBoss, from a company called iPhantom, for about six months. It costs $80, with a $5/month subscription. It sits between the modem and the router, so it filters all the devices in the house. There's no software to install (the controls are all accessed from the browser), and it WORKS! It's niether perfect nor flawless, but I give it an A- overall.
To supplement the iBoss filter, I recently ordered Snoopstick monitor software from Cybersitter. Haven't received it yet, so I don't know how good it is, but it comes with a 30-day return. I'll post a reply here later, with my comments on the Snoopstick
Check out the iBoss. And CNet -- please create a listing for the iBoss, so I can post a more thorough review.
Er, sorry. But I think you paid a bit much.
by Archus - 4/12/07 6:16 AM In reply to: I like the iBoss filter by InsertCleverUserNameHereUm, hate to break this to you, but you're paying to much. The Linksys WRt54GS wireless router will do this for you at 60 bucks and no subscription. Plus a lot more.
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