"Spy" Software

[Thund3rball]

I like the idea of keeping the computer in a public part of your home where everyone spends lots of time, like the family room where the TV is or off the kitchen for example. I understand the concern you have with your children and the dangers that lie out there on the internet, but you need to be open and honest with your kids IMHO. I am sure you are doing a great job teaching your kids and building a great relationship with them, don't spoil it by spying on them.

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by Babrbarossa

Please refrain from insulting people

I didn't insult anyone.. I insulted all parents who go about parenting their kids the wrong way.

Trust is a major thing between parents and kids and when that trust is broken you end up in a whole heap of trouble.

[FiXT]

Parents have a difficult time trusting kids because many kids are not trustworthy.
Spying may be a little over the top, but protecting children from the ces pool of sexually explict and graphically violent material widely avaible on the internet is being a responsible parent. The same way a parent should not let there 13 year old play GTA4 or watch Saw, the the internet needs to have some reigns on it to.

Expecting a child to be responsible enough to make wise choices about things that you know are deterimental to their growing up is expecting to much. They are learning from everything they bring in - A good saying "Garbage in, Garbage Out"

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by FiXT

Parents have a difficult time trusting kids because many kids are not trustworthy.
Spying may be a little over the top, but protecting children from the ces pool of sexually explict and graphically violent material widely avaible on the internet is being a responsible parent. The same way a parent should not let there 13 year old play GTA4 or watch Saw, the the internet needs to have some reigns on it to.

Expecting a child to be responsible enough to make wise choices about things that you know are deterimental to their growing up is expecting to much. They are learning from everything they bring in - A good saying "Garbage in, Garbage Out"

If a kid is not trustworthy its how you raised them. Kids learn trust from their parents and as long as the parents lead by example everything should be fine.

I'm not gonna get into how people should parent but in this day and age too many parents aren't parenting and just let their kids do as they please.

[thenewguy001]

Most kids go through a rebellious phase that makes them irrational and untrustworthy. It's just part of growing up. It's also a time where they're the most vulnerable to peer pressure, getting into bad crowds and experimenting with unwholesome activities. As a responsible parent, this is a time when you need to be most vigilant in monitoring and correcting any bad behavior. If you're convinced that a heart to heart talk is not enough, then maybe it's time to bust out some monitoring software. You can't control your kids when they're out of your house, so you should do all you can to reinforce your values on them while they're still dependant on you. Trust may be an issue with monitoring, but if your kids know you're going to such lengths to prevent them from such activities, they'll know you're serious and will think tiwce. They might still make the wrong choice, and it may be unavoidable, but at least they'll consciously know that they're voilating the upbringing you've given them. They can't blame their poor choices on bad parenting.

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by thenewguy001

Most kids go through a rebellious phase that makes them irrational and untrustworthy. It's just part of growing up. It's also a time where they're the most vulnerable to peer pressure, getting into bad crowds and experimenting with unwholesome activities. As a responsible parent, this is a time when you need to be most vigilant in monitoring and correcting any bad behavior. If you're convinced that a heart to heart talk is not enough, then maybe it's time to bust out some monitoring software. You can't control your kids when they're out of your house, so you should do all you can to reinforce your values on them while they're still dependant on you. Trust may be an issue with monitoring, but if your kids know you're going to such lengths to prevent them from such activities, they'll know you're serious and will think tiwce. They might still make the wrong choice, and it may be unavoidable, but at least they'll consciously know that they're voilating the upbringing you've given them. They can't blame their poor choices on bad parenting.

Spy software won't work.

When I was a kid my parents grounded me off playing my Super Nintendo so I just went to my friends.

[SugarJ]

I won't weigh in with opinions, but here's what I did with my son.

The computer was always in a visible place (a nook off the kitchen). He was not allowed on it unless I was home. It was always MY computer, and I told him I would be checking up on what he did as I was legally responsible for what happened on my computer and in my house (put the onus on the justice system ). I'd occasionally check the browser history, and scan the computer for .jpgs. If I walked by, and he minimized something, I made him put it back up so I could see it. If he closed it, that was an automatic loss of computer privilege for 1 week. I caught him with some playboy type pictures (1 girl, nothing really nasty thank god) when he was about 15 and that cost him 3 months. Oh, the firewall I used had a logger on it, I used to check that too once he figured out how to clear the browser history. I never told him about that, for some reason.

But I always told him I was responsible and liable for what happened in my home, so I had a right to know what was transpiring on the computer. If he wanted to talk to someone privately, use the phone in the bedroom. I always knocked if the door was closed and expected the same from him.

[thenewguy001]

Originally Posted by enaberif

Spy software won't work.

When I was a kid my parents grounded me off playing my Super Nintendo so I just went to my friends.

Still. you know they wanted you to stop playing games and do something productive. If you choose to ignore it, and you you ended up doing poorly in school, then it's your fault. It's better than if they just let you play all day and not do your homework, and you failed your classes. Then you can blame them for a crappy upbringing. But if you didnt' get into that university faculty you wanted then guess what? It's your poor choices that are to blame. Parents should only influence what choices you make, not make them for you.

[BrainEater]

Heh.

very interesting.It's amazing how much one can learn about the people posting in this thread, by what they've written...

Anyways , I digress .

OP , don't bother with keyloggers , you'll only get half the story.As the admin of your network ( quote misterlarry "the mom and dad network") you need to look into some more serious network analysis tools.I'm speaking specifically about packet loggers....If done correctly it'll get a full capture of all of the IP traffic to and from a client machine without the client machine having any idea.

This can be accomplished several ways , but it's not a 'beginners' type project.The easiest way to do it is through your router ,if it's capable of that , but many are not.

I recommend you start Here.

gl.