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I don't have any experience yet, but it is something I'm equally concerned about as a newish father. First issues seem like non- negotiable to me: ad-blockers

I don't have any experience yet, but it is something I'm equally concerned about as a newish father. First issues seem like non- negotiable to me: ad-blockers, no social media while young, no YouTube/streaming while very young. Shows or television downloaded and scheduled locally/limited to stop the addiction and consumerist problem. I don't have any objections to physically blocking things at a very young age. Education-wise all the usual stuff about online behaviour and safety: don't use your real name, don't give it your details, don't click on ads, or anything sent to you, etc. No explicit media consumption devices: ipads and phones. The main issues I have are questions of when and how to introduce more computer time and access and how/when to drop these controls. I'm less concerned about porn (assuming young kids aren't really interested in it, and by the time he is interested in it I doubt there's much I can do bar education) than I am digital + media addiction, consumerism, gore/ shock sites and nutter ideologies/bubbles (although again on that last I'm assuming education, an actual relationship and exposure probably inoculates best). Any thoughts on when and how to introduce kids to the digital world when my main fear/thing to protect them from is digital consumption, addiction, consumerism and tech companies?

Arbalest 7y ago
I'm pretty much in the same boat. I would also agree with all the anti-advertising stuff. Keeping them off tracking is paramount. The phones thing as well. I have also been thinking about the ramp of releasing restrictions. With respect to pornography, I was collecting it since I was 13. Yes it makes parents uncomfortable. I don't think it has made me a worse person, primarily because I was raised to still respect people. The problem with porn is when other things (ads again) imply that hypersexualisation is normal, and the boundary is blurred. Problems with pornography also get raised when peers talk about it as if they can emulate it. All of these things are out of your control. I am already thinking of a pi-hole like system. I sort of have this dream of a 90's early 00's filter system, but that can't last much beyond 10 years of age. Further, with DoTLS etc, ad blockers are going to become more difficult. Maybe later on, once a mobile phone becomes neccessary, it needs to be a smartphone with a custom rom with full app isolation and anything and everything to cull tracking. Despite all these measures, I suspect the only real solution is to keep your kids occupied with hands on stuff that is not on the computer. Treat computers as a tool. You use it to program other devices. Do some gardening (if you can). Use computers to track growth and research techniques.

Arbalest 7y ago

I'm pretty much in the same boat. I would also agree with all the anti-advertising stuff. Keeping them off tracking is paramount. The phones thing as well. I have also been thinking about the ramp of releasing restrictions. With respect to pornography, I was collecting it since I was 13. Yes it makes parents uncomfortable. I don't think it has made me a worse person, primarily because I was raised to still respect people. The problem with porn is when other things (ads again) imply that hypersexualisation is normal, and the boundary is blurred. Problems with pornography also get raised when peers talk about it as if they can emulate it. All of these things are out of your control. I am already thinking of a pi-hole like system. I sort of have this dream of a 90's early 00's filter system, but that can't last much beyond 10 years of age. Further, with DoTLS etc, ad blockers are going to become more difficult. Maybe later on, once a mobile phone becomes neccessary, it needs to be a smartphone with a custom rom with full app isolation and anything and everything to cull tracking. Despite all these measures, I suspect the only real solution is to keep your kids occupied with hands on stuff that is not on the computer. Treat computers as a tool. You use it to program other devices. Do some gardening (if you can). Use computers to track growth and research techniques.