Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2007 6:03:06 GMT -6
I thought it would be a good idea to show people where to get info on internet child safety. A great deal of information is here at dmoz.org(a reputable source) but I posted this because I thought some practical advice might help you make sure your kids are safe online. By modifying very simple computer settings you can help prevent children from getting up to stuff they shouldnt be doing. NONE of the things I put in the quote box are dificcult at all to acheive and will take no more than 5 or ten minutes each but will add much to your childs safety.
After doing these things any software your child wants to install will have to be installed by you, also this means that the child cannot disable any services and startup programs, therefore, any safety and security software will not be bypassed by the child. It will be difficult for the child to do anything online that you cannot find out about. These steps should be seen as acheiving the goal of putting you more in control of your childs computer time and preventing them from covering their tracks
This applies to windows XP users
1) put a password on the administrator account. Make the password unguessable, something like 4!5Ff#60=rt. Do not let the child know this password. write the password down and store it safely and in a secret place. Do not use easy passwords like names or dictionary words or whatever and make sure all passwords are longer than 6 characters also use a combo of upper and lower case and numbers microsoft on creating a password
2) Create a limited user account for the child. Give the account a password you both know. This will mean the child cannot install software or prevent safety software from running. adding a new user
3) make an account for yourself and strictly speaking you should make it a limited account but, for ease of use, you may prefer to make it an admin account. This is because the admin account is very powerful and very necessary to run a computer so you dont want to go online while logged in as administrator. but a different account with admin privaledges is slightly more secure.
(see link above)
Dont forget to keep all your passwords secret from the child except the one on their own account
4) Turn off fast user switching and also prevent the welcome screen from being displayed. This will have the effect of showing a dialogue for logging in which cannot be bypassed. This will make it harder for the child to access your accounts
microsoft help on fast user switching , turning the welcome screen off
5) Install some good filter software under the administrator account there are various filters that will prevent kids from accessing all sorts of distasteful and illegal sites. I dont know what to recommend so here is a lot of info from dmoz who are in partneship with AOL - the link is a page with A LOT of info about child safety and links to many sites which specialise in child safety with advisories dmoz.org
After doing these things any software your child wants to install will have to be installed by you, also this means that the child cannot disable any services and startup programs, therefore, any safety and security software will not be bypassed by the child. It will be difficult for the child to do anything online that you cannot find out about. These steps should be seen as acheiving the goal of putting you more in control of your childs computer time and preventing them from covering their tracks
This applies to windows XP users
1) put a password on the administrator account. Make the password unguessable, something like 4!5Ff#60=rt. Do not let the child know this password. write the password down and store it safely and in a secret place. Do not use easy passwords like names or dictionary words or whatever and make sure all passwords are longer than 6 characters also use a combo of upper and lower case and numbers microsoft on creating a password
2) Create a limited user account for the child. Give the account a password you both know. This will mean the child cannot install software or prevent safety software from running. adding a new user
3) make an account for yourself and strictly speaking you should make it a limited account but, for ease of use, you may prefer to make it an admin account. This is because the admin account is very powerful and very necessary to run a computer so you dont want to go online while logged in as administrator. but a different account with admin privaledges is slightly more secure.
(see link above)
Dont forget to keep all your passwords secret from the child except the one on their own account
4) Turn off fast user switching and also prevent the welcome screen from being displayed. This will have the effect of showing a dialogue for logging in which cannot be bypassed. This will make it harder for the child to access your accounts
microsoft help on fast user switching , turning the welcome screen off
5) Install some good filter software under the administrator account there are various filters that will prevent kids from accessing all sorts of distasteful and illegal sites. I dont know what to recommend so here is a lot of info from dmoz who are in partneship with AOL - the link is a page with A LOT of info about child safety and links to many sites which specialise in child safety with advisories dmoz.org
T
I am always by my son's side when he is on the internet! To me that is the safest way. But I do have html filters and stuff on also. All parents and grandparents and childcare givers need to really take this stuff to heart. Our kids are too precious to just turn loose on the internet!!
