The best parental control software

Look up the millions of others using the net just fine.

Software cannot parent for you, and stupid, like life, will find a way.

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JohnGrammaticus wrote:

My friend has a son. When the son asked him - dad what is [Removed by Support]? he simply told him that it's a website filled with viruses that will delete his Minecraft and LoL accounts. It worked.

LMFAO!

Could always try the "shocked straight" approach, 30 seconds of BME pain olympics years ago was enough to verify to me the sheer amount of things I want absolutely nothing to do with on the internet. Now if theres a site im curious about for some reason ill google what it is first, if it sounds...questionable...that is. The closest I get nowadays to filth of that level is countdown videos discussing things like it. As much as I know about things like [Removed by Support], i will probably go to my grave without ever having watched it lmfao. Back when it was the "omg dude have to seen this yet!?" video, which was like middle school IIRC, no amount of peer pressure or curiosity canceled out the fact that I really didnt wanna see that shit (literally).

So I think a conversation about the actual magnitude of what you can see might be appropriate. Less of a "you may not go here because because youre too young" approach and more of a "heres why you should be very careful and (insert your own words of caution here), malware, etc."

The most important lesson I ever learned about the internet was that its a wealth of knowledge spanning from things you SHOULD know, to things that can warp your mind negatively and even f up your system with malicious software. So I would argue that a blanket parental control approach will just delay the inevitable and explanation as to why you are restricting certain things is necessary to go along if its to have a positive impact. The internet is way too complicated for a one size fits all, ez-pz, set it and forget it method.

Why not try a hardware solution?

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SkyCore wrote:

The forbidden fruit is the most coveted. The more you attempt to control someone, the more they desire to do the opposite.

If there is a good reason for inhibition, then simply explain the reason in a calm logical tone.

Dont rely on some program to substitute for parenting. Even the best software cant catch everything, any clever person can find a way. Attempting to screen out search keywords is futile, sex has more innuendo... more seemingly benign phrases/words which double in subtext than any other concept in the history of mankind. Its the devil in the details. Keyword association can do a lot, dont get me wrong, but its still better IMO to use logic and understanding rather than attempting to outwit your child with dumb software.

On the one hand, I totally understand that installing parental control software will only serve to motivate a child to learn how to subvert said software, and that they will eventually get to the masturbatory and/or dopamine fix they crave.

On the other hand, why would that situation be undesirable? The way I see it, the choices are: use the stuff as bait to teach one's children valuable hacking skills, or just let them have what they want without effort. The latter option sucks.

The trick, I'd think, is that you'd want to start small and work your way up. Begin with easily foiled parental controls, then once you detect your child is beyond them, upgrade to something tougher, incrementally. This way knowledge increases incrementally.

Oh, and of course, never give any indication that you want them to crack the control software. With teenagers, it's no fun if it's parent-approved. You need to keep Steven Colbert mode on at all times, to include apparent frustration as their computer skills grow and you're "forced" to get a more secure solution.

TL;DR: Parental control tools are one of the best means of computing education and definitely worth installing, perhaps even purchasing.

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ScrotieMcB wrote:

On the one hand, I totally understand that installing parental control software will only serve to motivate a child to learn how to subvert said software, and that they will eventually get to the masturbatory and/or dopamine fix they crave.

On the other hand, why would that situation be undesirable? The way I see it, the choices are: use the stuff as bait to teach one's children valuable hacking skills, or just let them have what they want without effort. The latter option sucks.

The trick, I'd think, is that you'd want to start small and work your way up. Begin with easily foiled parental controls, then once you detect your child is beyond them, upgrade to something tougher, incrementally. This way knowledge increases incrementally.

Oh, and of course, never give any indication that you want them to crack the control software. With teenagers, it's no fun if it's parent-approved. You need to keep Steven Colbert mode on at all times, to include apparent frustration as their computer skills grow and you're "forced" to get a more secure solution.

TL;DR: Parental control tools are one of the best means of computing education and definitely worth installing, perhaps even purchasing.

So your stance is that laws are meant to be broken? And you should be rewarded for breaking the rules?

I don't think rules are meant to be broken, but I do think computers are sets of programmed instructions - rules, basically - and the best way to gain understanding is to pit oneself against them.

It's like learning to fight. Normally, hitting people is wrong. But you can't really learn how to fight without hitting people.

Really, teaching about ethics is separate. But once again, experience is the best teacher. You can't really explore the depths of right and wrong without having done some of both. Of course, I'm never saying to advocate wrong, but if you really want to teach your kids ethics then it not about making sure they never err, but about being there and having the right things to say when they do.