Well, we are finally getting the internet at home. My oldest is going to be cyber schooled this year (he'll have his own school laptop) and my boss just gave me a laptop so we are going to be dealing with a lot of new issues and worries. We are going to be making our 5 kids use the laptop in the living room where everyone can see and limit each kid's time on the internet. My question is what kind of software or whatever are any of you using that you like for monitoring each kid on the internet to keep them safe? What rules do you have that seem to work for you? My kids' ages are 13, 10, 8, 5 and 9 months. Thanks in advance for your input.
Hi, M.;
I would suggest that all y'all sit down and make up the rules on the internet use and put it on a poster board where they can see the guidelines all the time. All y'all come up with the consequences if the rules are not followed. That way they take ownership of their decisions.
Good luck. Thanks for asking. D.
Wow! Amazing you were able to go until age 13 without the Internet, school-wise. You wrote that your oldest is going to be cyber schooled this year...but if he/she has been in a traditional school setting, I'm not sure how you have been able to go so long without the Internet! (Ditto to Kimberly, re thinking you'll be able to go without the Internet until high school!) In our school district, the children need the Internet at times for homework in elementary school. My kids had some web-based homework in the early elementary school grades. By middle school (age 11, 6th grade), there is a lot of homework that involves the Internet. The students are expected to check out their teachers' webpages daily, and if they don't, they are at a disadvantage. (Come to think of it, their elementary school teachers also posted often on their webpages, with the expectation that the kids would go to the pages. About 80% of the teachers in our school district have webpages for their students' use, and eventually all of the teachers will be required to have them.) While most children in my kids' classes have computers at home, others use it at the libraries...but I would prefer the Internet at home, where it is easier to monitor.
One of my daughter's middle school teachers went totally paperless, a great ecological move. That meant 100% of the homework assignments and reports had to be filed online.
We do not have any system on our computers that monitors the key strokes. We are strict re how the Internet is used, however, and we have computers set up in open areas, etc. Our kids also know that we can go on their accounts at any time, and that we have to have all passwords. If we were to find a "violation," there would be consequences that the kids don't want, and they have been pretty good about following our rules.
I have a 15 yr old and she has had her laptop about 4 yrs. We do not have software that monitors her keystrokes, sites, visited, etc.
We talked with her about what you do and don't do online. We told her that we would randomly check her computer history. She knows the responsibility of having her laptop. In the event she makes a choice that is not responsible, THEN we will step it up but we are not going to police her every move.
If you are getting a laptop issued by work or school, it more than likely has some monitoring system on it anyway. The only way you avoid that is if you own your laptop outright and you know what you install on it.
We each have our own laptop, do our business and things work out just fine. I think the most important and crucial thing is COMMUNICATION with your children and spouse. Our communication lines are wide open here and no topic is off limits. Our family works well this way.
Software I'd suggest:
mobicip (we use this for i pod touch, not sure if it is for laptops)
webwatcher-expensive , but very thorough and you can configure it so that access is limited to particular hours of the day
have you thought about giving every member of your household their own login?
HTH
Out of curiousity what Program In your area are you getting your cyber school from?
My hubby works for a company that does that kinda thing. He is in charge of fixing all the laptops & computers that are used by the students.
Anywho, Is this a laptop sent FROM the school or one you are buying? Most schools that supply the laptops have certain security things already in placed to keep the students from "screwing around" on the internet. I would ask them if there is anything they would recommend that won't mess with their online school stuff.
Oh I wanted to add. I would say keep them away from any music, movie, game downloads. If they're messing around with that you will have the added trouble of virus' & malware. There are the obvious things that no kid should see on the internet.
First, I don't see any reason why my kids even need the internet till they are in high school. My kids will not be on the internet until it is necessary for school work and only with supervision then. I do have OpenDNS installed on my computer and it is free. You can set up how you want it blocked. Here is the address: http://www.opendns.com/start/ There are other options as well. I am not sure who you are using for Cyber school, but they may be able to offer suggestions for a better internet filter, but I am quite happy with OpenDNS.
