Computers and kids?

**pip** · 08-13-2006, 11:45 AM

I'm just wondering how everyone else deals with the internet and their kids using it. We have had issues in the past with our kids and it's made me crazy with wanting to have really good parental controls. So far, AOL seems to have the most reliable, but it slows our computer down (which I can handle, but I am a very patient person). The kids don't like it because it doesn't let them get places (where they really shouldn't be going to anyway) and my husband likes things very fast and non-restrictive, so he's complaining, and he seems to forget how bad it was when we didn't have the controls in place. I can't stand it. But, I do know that at least now I can go places without wanting to take the mouse or keyboard with me in the car!
So, what do you guys do? Do you have these issues and how do you deal with it?

**PrairieRose** · 08-13-2006, 11:56 AM

My 3 dk's are grown and gone away from home now but when they were at home I did indeed worry about that immensely. I was always checking the history and always trying to keep an eye on what they were doing while they were online. There's so much on the net that you don't want them exposed to and I'm not sure how old your kids are but I am all for restricting the time they have on the computer, making them do some other things that can be creative and constructive. I think the trick to keeping kids out of "trouble" is to keep them very busy. No time to get into trouble

**kabin63** · 08-13-2006, 12:29 PM

I let my DD on for an hour a day, and she only has certain sites she looks at. After school starts, Tuesday BTW, she will be restricted to 1/2 a day.
I keep an eye on what she does , but she is never allowed to go online without my permission or an adult being here.

**Tori2** · 08-13-2006, 12:33 PM

We keep our computer in the greatroom where we can monitor what our child is doing. She limited to time on computer and television. This works out for us.

**YankeeMom** · 08-13-2006, 12:46 PM

The only one of my kids who really uses the internet is my oldest. She is restricted to a couple of sites and she knows I monitor where she has been. We've only had one issue in the very beginning. She lost internet privileges for 4 months and had to watch quite a few internet predator shows and demonstrate that she understood the dangers before she was allowed back on. I have all her passwords to her email & other sites she goes to. I check on her daily.

Plus our internet-connected computers are out in the open with the rest of the family. Their computer upstairs is not hooked to the internet and only for games & typing/printing school papers.

**inneedofhope** · 08-13-2006, 01:42 PM

My son is 5, and he surfs like a pro! He is the type to get sucked into it for hours if you let him, so I do have to keep on him with time limits. Computer time is the first thing he loses when he acts up, it is the best motivator for him. He goes to cartoon sites to play the games, and he asks me to spell the addy, so i know where he goes and what he does.
He will start kg in two weeks. I may decide to limit his computer use to Saturdays, with the exception of when he and I use it for reference, or to supplement his learning.
What bugs me the most is the enormous amount of shortcuts he puts on my desktop. Multiples of one site!

**sixfreds** · 08-13-2006, 02:25 PM

My computer is in my kitchen so I monitor pretty well plus she knows I check the history so I know what she is doing.... and I have all her passowrds for her email or anything else that needs a password so once in a while I check and see what she is doing... She does know this so it is not a secret....

Eileen

**MOMMYDEAREST** · 08-13-2006, 04:42 PM

my kids fight over the computer 24/7.........NONSTOP!!!!! it drives me crazy!! we have our computer in the corner of the dining room & we can always see what website they are on & who they are talking to online.

**Hollyhandi** · 08-13-2006, 05:04 PM

My son is 17 and when he's home he's usually talking to his friends or on his my space. I guess I don't moniter him now. ( he's never home he's with his buddies and I have the computer )