5 ms·

Here are my results so far: 1. MS Family Safety: can be easily turned off by the child 2. Kaspersky Safe Kids: doesn’t really work at all. 3. Qustodio: doesn’t

Here are my results so far: 1. MS Family Safety: can be easily turned off by the child 2. Kaspersky Safe Kids: doesn’t really work at all. 3. Qustodio: doesn’t block apps, so kinda useless. It blocks some, but not others. I would pay good money for something that does work. As things are now, my 14 yo can only use his computer under adult supervision to do his homework. Otherwise he doesn’t do it at all. I don’t even care what sites he goes to as long as homework is done on time, but he totally lacks any self control, and left to his own devices he will spend all his time playing Minecraft and watching bullshit on YouTube. If he hates me for not letting him do that, so be it.

sathackr 9y ago
We use sophos UTM. It's free for personal use and works about as good as it can work. It filters based on site category and does SSL interception. We have a VPN on the mobile devices that funnels all traffic through the home network so that it is monitored and protected no matter where they are.
- ausjke 9y ago
  Are you saying when you're out all your 4G traffic are still re-routed to home network via VPN? what about they just disable VPN app on the mobile device?
  - sathackr 9y ago
    yes -- that's what I'm saying. They could disable the VPN, it's not a bulletproof solution, but good enough, for now. I agree it wouldn't work for all children in all situations, but it works for us for now. I'm not trying to 100% block access, I'm just trying to make things a little more difficult. Kind of like when people put a tiny padlock on their suitcase. It's not going to stop a determined person with wire/bolt cutters, but it's going to stop the curious person who might just take a look and grab something. Sure, he could go to a friends house and use their computer. I can't stop everything, but I can at least reduce the influence, possibly prevent a pop-up or something from giving that little nudge towards temptation. An open pile of cash on the ground is far more tempting than a safe full of cash on the ground.
mieseratte 9y ago
If you're lucky, you'll accidentally turn your child into a hacker.
- throwaway84742 9y ago
  I’m ok with that. At least it’s better than “YouTube watcher”, or “Minecraft player”.
  - rainbowmverse 9y ago
    A proactive approach might get better results than a prohibitive one. Minecraft modding and making Minecraft videos seems like an obvious route for this given the interest.
    - throwaway84742 9y ago
      I take it you are not a parent. Or at least a parent of a more compliant child.
      - rainbowmverse 9y ago
        >> I take it you are not a parent. Or at least a parent of a more compliant child. There are too many awful parents out there for me to believe having kids makes one uniquely qualified to make suggestions. Dismissing ideas with a variation on "you must not have kids" is a huge red flag. It's usually done by people who see kids as things to be controlled and made subservient instead of as adults in progress. We were all kids once. We all had friends whose parents had different styles, and often we got to see how that turned out. We all have a set of relevant experiences to pull from on the subject. Maybe it won't work for you. That's fine, but maybe you could actually say something about what's wrong with the suggestion instead of issuing a blanket dismissal. Or do the polite thing and ignore it. You can spare me the condescending "so you don't have kids" that always follows this and just move on if you have nothing better to say.
        9y ago
asaph 9y ago
What would you have done at his age? Would you have done your homework promptly or played video games first? Did you ever skip your homework altogether? Be honest.
- throwaway84742 9y ago
  Computers were primitive when I was his age, but I did have one. I never had any problems with homework. The context here is that I did not grow up in the US, and not doing one’s homework and having shitty grades was not “socially acceptable“ in the peer group. My son is not as fortunate.
  - zellyn 9y ago
    Heh. I grew up in South Africa, where “didn't do your homework” was met with a choice (if you were lucky) between caning (getting hit with a thin bamboo rod) and essay-writing.
- sgc 9y ago
  I'm not sure that is a relevant question. What I did might very well have been just the wrong thing. Of course they have urges and preferences they have difficulty controlling. That is the entire point of locking something down.
- creep 9y ago
  If I was born just five or so years later, I'd be that guy's kid. My mother didn't know how to discipline me. She would try and then I would convince her to give up. She never put any controls on anything I did-- consequently, I didn't learn what life could be like with those controls in place. Parenting is mostly a guessing game, but I honestly believe that no matter what, one has to teach discipline in some form or another. Once you see the kid disciplining him/herself, then you cut down on the discipline you provide. The human brain is not necessarily designed to be naturally disciplined. Your kid will veg out if you don't teach and enforce rules that show them what can happen when rules are in place-- things like graduating high school, for example.
sgc 9y ago
I would consider getting an android tablet or chrome book or linux laptop for him. They can actually be locked down. My daughter was spending waaay too much time watching some buffoon on youtube, so I explained to her, after numerous warnings, that since she couldn't control herself she was off internet. I leave internet access for her apps, but not the browsers, etc.
ausjke 9y ago
What about thin clients in the house? I know this is an old concept but with a thin-client the PC can be used only for homework, it's low power for gaming, and kids can not install anything on it, and they can use safe-browser with google...I am facing similar challenges at home. or maybe just chromeOS on chromebooks? schools are using that, maybe that's a good fit for kids surfing at home (for homework etc)

sathackr 9y ago

We use sophos UTM. It's free for personal use and works about as good as it can work. It filters based on site category and does SSL interception. We have a VPN on the mobile devices that funnels all traffic through the home network so that it is monitored and protected no matter where they are.

ausjke 9y ago
Are you saying when you're out all your 4G traffic are still re-routed to home network via VPN? what about they just disable VPN app on the mobile device?
- sathackr 9y ago
  yes -- that's what I'm saying. They could disable the VPN, it's not a bulletproof solution, but good enough, for now. I agree it wouldn't work for all children in all situations, but it works for us for now. I'm not trying to 100% block access, I'm just trying to make things a little more difficult. Kind of like when people put a tiny padlock on their suitcase. It's not going to stop a determined person with wire/bolt cutters, but it's going to stop the curious person who might just take a look and grab something. Sure, he could go to a friends house and use their computer. I can't stop everything, but I can at least reduce the influence, possibly prevent a pop-up or something from giving that little nudge towards temptation. An open pile of cash on the ground is far more tempting than a safe full of cash on the ground.

mieseratte 9y ago

If you're lucky, you'll accidentally turn your child into a hacker.

throwaway84742 9y ago
I’m ok with that. At least it’s better than “YouTube watcher”, or “Minecraft player”.
- rainbowmverse 9y ago
  A proactive approach might get better results than a prohibitive one. Minecraft modding and making Minecraft videos seems like an obvious route for this given the interest.
  - throwaway84742 9y ago
    I take it you are not a parent. Or at least a parent of a more compliant child.
    - rainbowmverse 9y ago
      >> I take it you are not a parent. Or at least a parent of a more compliant child. There are too many awful parents out there for me to believe having kids makes one uniquely qualified to make suggestions. Dismissing ideas with a variation on "you must not have kids" is a huge red flag. It's usually done by people who see kids as things to be controlled and made subservient instead of as adults in progress. We were all kids once. We all had friends whose parents had different styles, and often we got to see how that turned out. We all have a set of relevant experiences to pull from on the subject. Maybe it won't work for you. That's fine, but maybe you could actually say something about what's wrong with the suggestion instead of issuing a blanket dismissal. Or do the polite thing and ignore it. You can spare me the condescending "so you don't have kids" that always follows this and just move on if you have nothing better to say.
      - 9y ago

asaph 9y ago

What would you have done at his age? Would you have done your homework promptly or played video games first? Did you ever skip your homework altogether? Be honest.

throwaway84742 9y ago
Computers were primitive when I was his age, but I did have one. I never had any problems with homework. The context here is that I did not grow up in the US, and not doing one’s homework and having shitty grades was not “socially acceptable“ in the peer group. My son is not as fortunate.
- zellyn 9y ago
  Heh. I grew up in South Africa, where “didn't do your homework” was met with a choice (if you were lucky) between caning (getting hit with a thin bamboo rod) and essay-writing.
sgc 9y ago
I'm not sure that is a relevant question. What I did might very well have been just the wrong thing. Of course they have urges and preferences they have difficulty controlling. That is the entire point of locking something down.
creep 9y ago
If I was born just five or so years later, I'd be that guy's kid. My mother didn't know how to discipline me. She would try and then I would convince her to give up. She never put any controls on anything I did-- consequently, I didn't learn what life could be like with those controls in place. Parenting is mostly a guessing game, but I honestly believe that no matter what, one has to teach discipline in some form or another. Once you see the kid disciplining him/herself, then you cut down on the discipline you provide. The human brain is not necessarily designed to be naturally disciplined. Your kid will veg out if you don't teach and enforce rules that show them what can happen when rules are in place-- things like graduating high school, for example.

sgc 9y ago

I would consider getting an android tablet or chrome book or linux laptop for him. They can actually be locked down. My daughter was spending waaay too much time watching some buffoon on youtube, so I explained to her, after numerous warnings, that since she couldn't control herself she was off internet. I leave internet access for her apps, but not the browsers, etc.

ausjke 9y ago

What about thin clients in the house? I know this is an old concept but with a thin-client the PC can be used only for homework, it's low power for gaming, and kids can not install anything on it, and they can use safe-browser with google...I am facing similar challenges at home. or maybe just chromeOS on chromebooks? schools are using that, maybe that's a good fit for kids surfing at home (for homework etc)