Securing kids online

Another problem is idiots who think porn is something only 18 and up should look at.... When you're 18 you generally have a GF and don't need it, and at that age you should know enough not to knock her up.

So 16 year olds end up pregnant because guys around the same age have no way of releasing sexual tension, which is because thye can't get porn and they have idiot parents who won't let them look at it online.

Think about that the next time you're bitching out a kid over a couple boobs. At least he's not a dad.

My cousin and me were smarter though, if we got caught with porn, we would throw in the homosexual fears of parents and play on it:

"Well damn Dad, at least I'm not gay, would you rather have me looking at big floppy dicks?"

Heh, I got a bottle of lotion and a subscription to playboy as did my cousin after that one.

:flip:

seeing this issue from both perspectives, being 22, i think that making sure your kid isn't a retard is priority number 1. At 15 i dialed up, completely on my own, knowing more about the $2000 machine i was in front of then my parents did who bought it. That general theme continued thru most of the "warning" and "educational" talks my parents gave me, except the one about money and work, i never bought that one, till i got stuck with that one, but thats another story. Anyhoo, back to my point. There's one thing i've realized helping as many people as i have:
Children will always be able to outsmart a parent when it comes to technology. Children have more time and energy to devote to their goals, and have as big or bigger of a social network to work with to get where they want. Those kids in highschool playing magic the gathering or D&D or insert_roleplaying_or_fantasy_game_here were always there for me to answer a few questions or drop a few hints. Your basically dealing with securing the computer from your child AND all your children's friends. Not gonna happen, or will happen, until the kid figures out Linux Live-CDs or finds your written down password, or etc etc.
Now, the main focus should be on enlightening your child that there are people as screwed up in the head, or moreso than you are. All those bad guys in the movies, alot of them represent something that really exists either in personality or in actions. I met people online without my parents knowing about it. but i remember that crappy Oprah 1 hour special bullshit, and I always went with a friend, and made sure it was a public place. And i always made sure that there was a phone number exchange and a few conversations were made back and forth. You can really tell the difference between a pervert and another possible friend on the phone. Especially when your between 13 and 16. So the point of this ramble, is that train your kid to be smart. Have your kid thinking of ways to protect him or herself from the getgo, you'd be surprised how far a little knowledge and empowerment will get you.
To sum this over extended thread up, don't feverishly lock down your computer when a little knowledge and understanding can get you to the same level of security. If your child doesn't understand that people are dangerous, convincing and enticing, (while being all the good stuff too, but takes away from the impact of the sentence) then their gonna get Effed in the A in some other part of life. Remember, Digital is the new stuff, all the same old dangers are out there. Don't break your back trying to prevent some chance occurance online, when they can get in as much or more danger walking out the front door. Set general principles, like Don't be stupid. A lot of non-digital secure thinking can translate easily into digitally secure thinking.

end of rant

Don't even waste your time trying to explain the dangers of anything to children...that will get you nowhere fast...

SHOW YOUR KIDS !

I taught my kids the value of road safety by showing them, every time we came across one, a dead animal on the road...

I taught my kids about strangers by showing them articles/pictures of what could happen to them...

if you really want a child to learn...you have to SHOW them...it registers much better and they learn alot faster. And I'm talking about Real-Life examples, not something that they identify with mostly as fiction like T.V.

We all learn better when we're SHOWN rather than TOLD...in virtually every aspect of life.

They have to SEE consequences...or you're just wasting your breath.

' But I told them?! '...good luck!

Eg ;)

Being shown definitly works better than anything else... All my friends that have ever been in a wreck ALWAYS wear their seatbelts now, seatbelt saved one of their lives. Seing a friend get hurt really bad in a car wreck and knowing that he had a seatbelt ON really made a lot of people rethink not having one...

Seeing a wreck in person also makes people drive safer... Everyone I know who has seen a bad wreck happen near them tends to drive better for at least 6 months after it...

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if you really want a child to learn...you have to SHOW them...it registers much better and they learn alot faster. And I'm talking about Real-Life examples, not something that they identify with mostly as fiction like T.V.

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I completely agree. If youre child is considerably underage, they should not have a internet-capable computer in their rooms. Even if you tell them what and what not to view, they know you cannot see through their wooden bedroom door (that is, unless you are a direct descendant of Superman). Be proactive about issues such as these, but be realistic. Kids are going to try to circumvent security restrictions, so pick your battles too.

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Originally posted here by tenzenryu
which I suspect we should be involved in both to control the fud factor and to promote real and realistic measures for child protection online, both legal and technical?

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Simple - :D unplug the computer

I always wear my seatbelt and have never been in a wreck. Some things just make sense ;).

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Originally posted here by tenzenryu
Do I detect an advocacy campaign somewhere in here - which I suspect we should be involved in both to control the fud factor and to promote real and realistic measures for child protection online, both legal and technical? [/B]

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I've grown up with the Internet. I'm not much older than it anyway, and my dad was one of the first here in the Netherlands to have an Internet connection. I've grown up with it and it's risks so I think I have a good opinion about it. :D
First of all, the Internet is like the highway. Everything moves around fast and you don't let your child play in the middle of the road. The same is true about the Internet. Children should have NO access to it if no adult is going to supervise it.

I think there should be a second, internet-like network that is used by schools with the purpose to educating children. This network should not be connected in any way to the regular Internet. And access to this network should be protected in some way. It would also need stricter rules.
This would be easily possible with an adjustment in the HTTP protocol if you ask me. An additional tag could be attached to every request, notifying the server that this is a request from a minor. It would then return a child-safe page. And sites that would violate this rule would just end up on some blacklist, possibly even banned from the regular Internet too.
So we'd have a free-for-all Internet and a second, childsafe Internet.

The next thing would be a better education for parents. They need to realise that their child can easily commit all kinds of crimes on the Internet without even realising that they are committing crimes! Those P2P networks make it so easy to download soundtracks and all kinds of software. Besides, kids will also trade these with friends without even using the Internet.

Then there are the kids who think it's fun to post nude pictures and movies of themselves online. They can have all kinds of reasons for doing this. It could be that someone tricked them to do so. It's also possible that they do this out of their own free will. I heard of a case in the USA where a 14 year old girl was arrested for spreading around childporn. She had put pictures of herself and her boyfriend online, and those were a bit sexual explicit. The boyfriend even approved this. Just don't know how this ended...

And there are online predators who are trying to search for online kids to lure them into a real-life meeting. This is the biggest danger, yet also the least common threat. Just teach your kids to not go and meet strangers they've only met online.

To keep kids secure online, you will have to start with providing them proper education. Don't blame the Internet if the kids were never educated about the dangers...

I say "kill all the kids". My family say "Papa, we need the kids to sell drugs to, we kill the kids, we have no more business, we end up poor" Prostitution is not good business no more, the kids today give it away for free, they call it " love" or something, papa our days are numbered. we have to find a new business. I have been told this computer thing is up and coming and we could make money from it, but who knows, what the **** is this thing they call technology. papa we made lots of money from olives, lets go back to the old ways