Greg wrote:
Greetings all.

I'm a father of one teenaged daughter, and another teeneager-to-be (not
too soon, thank the Gods!)

As with any household, the use of the computer has become quite an
issue. Parental controls on my AOL account don't seem to be enough.
She still manages to find her way to inappropriate material. Mostly at
the urging of her friends (my daughter a bit of a follower). I've
decided to go with computer monitoring/keylogging software to see
what's happening on my computer. Anyone else have experience with any
of these types of programs that could offer suggestions?

As a parent, it kills me not to trust my own kid, but the need to keep
her (and the rest of us) safe takes priority I think. Also, with
monitoring software, I could be better informed in case I have to take
further action.

Advise? Opinions? Thanks.

Greg


This is occasionally an issue at our house, with our
12-yo DD. We (the BH and I -- it's the BH's computer)
have made it clear to her that what she
does on the computer *is* visible to us. In fact,
Wednesday I logged into her account right in front
of her -- she didn't even know I knew her password!
She has on occasion lost her computer privileges --
once for a month IIRC -- because of inappropriate
activity (mostly related to chat sessions).

Having said that, we don't have monitoring software.
As you note, a child can find a way around that, and
I prefer not to have the illusion of security that
such software might give me.

My DD gives off unmistakeable signs when she is abusing
her computer privileges. Sometimes I don't notice them
at the time, but in retrospect they are always there.

It helps in our house that the computer is in a very
visible part of the house. There is *no* privacy
there. That and being able to log in as her helps
keep things in control. So far

Scott DD 12 and DS 9