What are your computer/internet rules for kids?

curlyhead

Sun, Jun 10 2012, 7:35 am

What rules do you have in place regarding computer and internet for your school age children.? Do they have specific times they are allowed to go on or time limited? Do you give them a whitelist of what they could go on or allow them to go on anything which a filter allows? Or do they have unlimited usage of the computer/internet.

For those who use a time limit or specific times do you use a parental control program and if so which one?

Have you become more strict regarding compter and internet useage since the asifa?

amother

Sun, Jun 10 2012, 8:17 am

I have an iMac and I use the built in parental controls. Each child has a timed account, and their account is blocked for certain hours of the day (they can't use the computer late at night or early in the morning). I use the setting that tries to filter inappropriate material and I manually add sites that the filter thinks is questionable.

It doesnt block you tube but my kids know to ask me before they do something new. The computer is in a central location and the screen is huge so they really don't have privacy. My kids also go to schools that allow the Internet and have computer classes that teach safe Internet practices and I reinforce these at home.

I don't yet have teenage boys, and when my oldest son gets a little older I might consider a stronger filter. For right now I'm confident that my security system is just what I need.

The asifa was not relevant to me.

ellie23

Sun, Jun 10 2012, 8:28 am

I actually dont have school age kids yet but when I do my dh and I decided

1. the computer will be in a very public location..perhaps in a little room with no doors (a little alcove of some sort) 1 computer for the home- no laptops allowed for children.
2. limit the amount of time they can be on it. for example, if after they finish their homework they want to go on they could..most pcs have timers that you can time out a session. I think 45 minutes is reasonable....then they should be encouraged to play with siblings/read/play games on their own...
3. make it a point to walk past at least once each time ther on it..this should not be difficult if the pc is pretty public.

I think the biggest issue here is 1. kids having laptops or being able to go on a computer and lock the room doors and 2. kids being on it for hours on end..not playing with friends/siblings, not using their imaginations, playing outside, being kids!

Rubber Ducky

Sun, Jun 10 2012, 8:34 am

Dear foster son (age 9) uses my computer or DH's computer only with DH or me present. He is not computer-savvy. I put a password on the computer that needs to be entered if the computer is idle for an hour, and my computer is in a very public place and is connected to a large screen. DH is trying out K9; I plan to go with WebChaver.

One of dear foster son's parents bought him some kind of Android tablet for Chanukah. With much difficulty we were able to put parental controls on it. He sent it back to the parent because we limited it so much.

DS#1 is married and uses WebChaver. DS#2 is in yeshiva in Israel and doesn't have web access. When he was younger he was only allowed to go on baseball and weather sites unless supervised.

I only decided on WebChaver after our family Rav said that members of our kehilla need to get either a filter or a monitoring system on all internet-enabled devices. Our Rav attended both the Asifa and the Day-After-the-Asifa event. We only have stupid-phones so for us that means computers. The nature of my work precludes whitelist filters. As far as blacklist filters... well, DH is trying K9. We'll see how it goes.

Culturedpearls

Sun, Jun 10 2012, 9:22 am

The only computer with Internet access is in our bedroom & it's password protected.
The kids have a computer without any access in the main room of the house.
They play a game or two but mainly use graphics programs & store photos from their cameras.
Our school/cheder never allowed Internet & we've never let any of the kids online & don't plan to.

Sun, Jun 10 2012, 11:23 am

The computer is in a communal part of our home (not office/bedroom/anyplace with a door that can close). We have one computer for the family, and it is wired to the wall.

Dd may use websites approved by a parent or adult-in-charge if at a friend's house or school. She may not use unapproved websites. She knows it is for her protection and that there would be serious consequences for noncompliance. We have not felt the need for a filter.

She may use wordprocessing software and similar applications to learn useful skills and express her creativity. She generally does not spend too much time on the computer, but occasionally we need to remind her to go do something else for a while.

The asifa is irrelevant to me.

Hatemywig

Sun, Jun 10 2012, 11:30 am

Computer is in Living Room.

We have K9.

My 12 year old son has a specified amount of time every day - I use a Time limit program called Romaco - after his time is up, he is logged out of his account.

The K9 blocks inappropriate sites as well as a list of sites that I have added.

I let my son watch Youtube on occasion, he knows the deal is that I have to watch him type - either way, if he does type something wrong, the k9 will block it if its in appropriate.

de_goldy

Sun, Jun 10 2012, 11:39 am

the computer is in a public area of the house.

we have eblaster which sends me a report of all activity on that computer. Everyone in the house knows the computer has eblaster. We also have some sites blocked completely.