How do you control internet access for your kids?

[KneesUp]

Little Knees hasn't thus far been that interested in the internet, being largely happy to look up the odd thing on wikipedia, and always with one of us to help initially.

However, I am aware that the appeal of the internet will inevitably increase as she gets older, and so I've begun to wonder about how best I might put some sort of control on it. I'm very much in favour of teaching her to be careful about what she does online, and would hope that whatever I set up will allow her sufficient freedom that she will rarely if ever come up against the restrictions - but as a responsible parent I feel that I should put in some barriers to prevent the seedier parts of the web encroaching on her childhood.

I'm thinking of running the connection through a proxy (squid, possibly?) on a Pi or similar, but before I start investigating, I wondered what solutions others have come up with.

 

[Drago]

I control access by physically only letting Mini Me have her iPad an hour a day. It gets locked in the gun safe when not in use.

 

[AndyRM]

I control access by physically only letting Mini Me have her iPad an hour a day. It gets locked in the gun safe when not in use.

Unloaded I hope?

 

[Markymark]

Computer in family area when we are around only and google safesearch enabled.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Plug them in via ethernet

 

[swee'pea99]

I honestly don't think you can, in any meaningful way. It has to be part of a more general, as it were higher-level, approach to raising 'em right. If they have the will, they'll surely find a way - with or without the help of their friends. It's a bit like when they're older, trying to help them stay safe at night: you can't police them while they're out, and excess strictness will just turn you into enemies, and is likely to end up being counter-productive. You have to try to instill the right values more generally, so that when they choose, they mostly make the right choices. That's my take on it anyway, and I think ours have turned out pretty good, overall.

 

[Drago]

Swee'pea99 is wise

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

...but as a responsible parent I feel that I should put in some barriers to prevent the seedier parts of the web encroaching on her childhood.

I though P&L was opt-in nowadays.

Mind you there's still @Drago to contend with in Cafe...

 

[Drago]

You love it really Marmion

 

[DCLane]

We've got it set up through BT, which means everyone has limits on what they see.

Controlled access time is through MS Windows, but only in terms of earliest / latest access.

We've had no issues to date, or none that I know of. However my 17yo and 12yo are generally good with this sort of thing. The 12yo can only access the Internet in our study and the 17yo had a laptop from when he was doing his GCSE's.

 

[mustang1]

I will look into getting a Google router.

 

[nickyboy]

We've never set parental controls on the internet. I suspect it may be a bit counterproductive, like banning your kids from drinking any alcohol at all. Bring them up right and trust them. One way or another if they want to watch fruity stuff online they will find a way. Schools are pretty good these days regarding online safety too

Controlling the time spent on devices, particularly when younger....definitely

 

[JoshM]

I don't have kids, nor do I spend a lot of time with other people's kids so maybe I'm not allowed a view but I believe that young people today will (almost) always be more tech savvy than their parents. I'm 32 and was 12 or so when we first got dial up internet. My mum had NO idea what was available online, how much of it I probably should not have been accessing etc.I wasn't a 'bad' kid and I didn't (often) go looking for porn and such like but I often used over 18 chat rooms. I watch the easy with which my friends 5 year old son can pick up and use her iPhone or iPad, use the Sky remote etc and it doesn't take much imagination to believe that come 13 or 14 he's going to have a comfort with technology that will surpass his mother's. She's not stupid and she can use her technology but she wasn't brought up with it.

With this in mind, I'm of the bring them up right, develop a relationship that will allow them to come to you if they're in over their head, and trust them. That said, I'd probably also use the timer option suggested above and would check what they've been browsing remotely from time to time so I knew if a 'chat' was required. It's natural for kids to push boundaries, its how they learn, the job of a parent is to allow that as safely as possible.

 

[Globalti]

GtiJ spends a fair amount of time on the web when he's not at college or cycling but I've no evidence that he looks at pron or anything sleazy. I actually don't think kids are any more likely to look at dodgy stuff than we oldies were likely to buy a porn mag; social media occupies them almost 100% of their free time and to the exclusion of most other socialising.

I even saw a newspaper article recently that suggested teenagers are losing interest in booze and drugs because social media give them all the stimulation they need. In other words I guess, they're not bored.

 

[cosmicbike]

We also have a BT hub, but do not limit the access times. If my kids want to look at a screen, then it's done in the family environment with us around. at 10 & 12 years old more and more homework is computer based, but outside of this their TV/screen time is limited to 4:30pm until dinner, typically 1 to 1.5 hrs. Phones and ipods do not go upstairs at bedtime either.