# parental control, any suggestions



## Nancycy (Sep 27, 2010)

Are there any free keyloggers out there that you can install for Mac? After I install it, I want to send the data automatcally to my e-mail address. Is there anything like that? I just wanna keep an eye for my 14 year old boy, an little Netbug. I am worried that he may visit some unhealthy websites, like porn or violent sites. Is there anything like this web filter, or this mac spy software out there? Free ones will be better.


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## mudkip (Sep 27, 2010)

Nancycy said:


> Are there any free keyloggers out there that you can install for Mac? After I install it, I want to send the data automatcally to my e-mail address. Is there anything like that? I just wanna keep an eye for my 14 year old boy, an little Netbug. I am worried that he may visit some unhealthy websites, like porn or violent sites. Is there anything like parental control, mac spy software out there? Free ones will be better.



Since when is porn unhealthy? If you respect your kid then don't do something sneaky like installing a keylogger. Respect his privacy and if there's something you want to tell him then just go talk to him.


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## freaksavior (Sep 27, 2010)

mudkip said:


> Since when is porn unhealthy? If you respect your kid then don't do something sneaky like installing a keylogger. Respect his privacy and if there's something you want to tell him then just go talk to him.



Considering the advice they asked, I do not think this was the best reply.

Also, to op, welcome to TPU. 

Mac os x 10.5 and 10.6 has built in parental controls to prevent unwanted sites to be viewed. You can try that. I do know norton had a very good parental control software that it would flag any words used, but I am pretty sure this is windows only. I did find this, "net nanny" Supposedly good software, but it is $40. . http://www.netnanny.com/mac


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## mudkip (Sep 27, 2010)

freaksavior said:


> Considering the advice they asked, I do not think this was the best reply.



I don't care. My opinion is that parents should be able to talk about these things instead of spying on their kid.


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## freaksavior (Sep 27, 2010)

mudkip said:


> I don't care. My opinion is that parents should be able to talk about these things instead of spying on their kid.



I agree with you 100%, but kids will be kids. You can tell them not to spit in the garden and they will go spit in the garden. 

I believe you are right, but I also think op wants to be safe and protect their kid.


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## Nancycy (Sep 27, 2010)

mudkip said:


> Since when is porn unhealthy? If you respect your kid then don't do something sneaky like installing a keylogger. Respect his privacy and if there's something you want to tell him then just go talk to him.



Thx for your reply. But Nick, my little son has poor self-discipline. He is curious about all the fangle, and he is too young to contact those adult things.


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## mudkip (Sep 27, 2010)

Nancycy said:


> Thx for your reply. But Nick, my little son has poor self-discipline. He is curious about all the fangle, and he is too young to contact those adult things.



For your info , I bet he has been wackin his little weener for 2 years now. I can understand the no violence thing though. But sex is not something you should act weird about. 
14 year old boys are full of hormones and acting so weird about it only makes it harder for him.


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## slyfox2151 (Sep 27, 2010)

mudkip said:


> For your info , I bet he has been wackin his little weener for 2 years now.



little bit far 

i agree with you but i dont think that comment was needed......


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## Mussels (Sep 27, 2010)

throwing in my two cents, just remember that the more you repress his actions at home, the more inclined he is to do it elsewhere.

he has computers at school, likely internet access on his phone (if he has one), and friends houses. the more he thinks you're hiding something 'good' from him, the more exciting it is for him to find it elsewhere.


you dont want to encourage him OR to outright deny him, instead look for a way to make him lose interest (ex: naughty girls on the internet like that have STD's, which make your wee-wee fall off)


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## trickson (Sep 27, 2010)

Man I'm not sure I can even comment here I have been jacking "it" since I was 12 ! LOL ! 
If you want real parental controls you have to take control ! It is quite simple really , Your computers should all be located in the ROOM you all hang out in the MOST ! You should NEVER let your child have a cell phone with a camera on it ! You should NEVER let your children onto a computer with internet access or cameras with out FULL SUPERVISION ! This means a parent in the room at all times . NEVER let any of your children to have a computer in there PRIVET ROOM ! Want to be a good parent ? Then take the right steps . No amount of programing can replace YOUR PRESENCE ! If you are at work then YOUR KIDS SHOULD NOT BE ON THE COMPUTER ! It is just that simple ! There are lots of parental programs that might make you " FEEL " Better and safer . But they only make you feel safe the only way you can be truly safe and make it safe for you and your children is when you practice good parental intervention . 
Try not to take this stuff the wrong way ok ? But really your kid could hack the program before you even realized they did !


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## Mussels (Sep 27, 2010)

trickson said:


> Man I'm not sure I can even comment here I have been jacking "it" since I was 12 ! LOL !
> If you want real parental controls you have to take control ! It is quite simple really , Your computers should all be located in the ROOM you all hang out in the MOST ! You should NEVER let your child have a cell phone with a camera on it ! You should NEVER let your children onto a computer with internet access or cameras with out FULL SUPERVISION ! This means a parent in the room at all times . NEVER let any of your children to have a computer in there PRIVET ROOM ! Want to be a good parent ? Then take the right steps . No amount of programing can replace YOUR PRESENCE ! If you are at work then YOUR KIDS SHOULD NOT BE ON THE COMPUTER ! It is just that simple ! There are lots of parental programs that might make you " FEEL " Better and safer . But they only make you can be truly safe and make it safe for you and your children is when you practice good parental intervention .
> Try not to take this stuff the wrong way ok ? But really your kid could hack the program before you even realized they did !



actually, computers in rooms is fine - just dont give them internet access (or at least, only give them access at certain times)


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## trickson (Sep 27, 2010)

Mussels said:


> actually, computers in rooms is fine - just dont give them internet access (or at least, only give them access at certain times)



Ok yeah agreed . But even then it is best to be with your children while they are on one . You never know .


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## Mussels (Sep 27, 2010)

trickson said:


> Ok yeah agreed . But even then it is best to be with your children while they are on one . You never know .



as the IT kid in my family, i had to fight tooth and nail to get my PC in my room - that was in the dial up days, so i had no internet access. the trouble i got into there with naughty material was brought around by my friends on floppy or CD, so its not something i could have been protected from at all - we coulda looked at it at school or at their houses just as easily.


my advice: dont let them have internet access whenever they want, until they're 16 (when they're old enough to bypass what you're doing anyway)

computers of their own is fine, i reccomend it. gives them something to do. Just unplug something critical to their internet access that they cant plug back in without your knowledge (ethernet cable, power pack to router, etc)

dont bother with software on the PC to monitor their usage, just monitor THEM. if they know you check up on them every half hour or so, they arent gunna risk getting caught with their pants down.

very basic threats: tell them if they get caught looking at porn, or other offensive material that the police can track it right back to their PC, and that if you find out they've been looking at that stuff they will lose all internet access and the PC for a month. take phone priviliges away too, for a repeat offence. (key here is to make sure they know the punishment in advance)


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## caleb (Sep 27, 2010)

Uhm when I was 15 I was already taking my urges to a girl next door.
I don't think limiting access or anything like that will help because he will get his stuff elsewhere but on the other hand I don't think I will allow him to have a computer in his room anyway not because of porn or b0g but because computers are damn addictive.


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## mudkip (Sep 27, 2010)

trickson said:


> Man I'm not sure I can even comment here I have been jacking "it" since I was 12 ! LOL !
> !



 hahaha best reply of the day


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## trickson (Sep 27, 2010)

mudkip said:


> hahaha best reply of the day



LOL .


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## Hybrid_theory (Sep 27, 2010)

Well as much as I agree with all of you, really the best way to do it is get a web blocker. The only free ones I know of are server based and require more work: Untangle is pretty straight forward, requires a dedicated machine though. There are probably home software solutions, but if your kid wants to get around them, there's usually a way.


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## caleb (Sep 27, 2010)

Maybe just run a tracing program in the background without blocking stuff ? Just make it log all the keyboard clicks into a txt file then just run through it and if something looks alerting then you can react. Also you can take screenshot's on random time intervals.

Sorta like Pu(Wa)nkBuster in games ^^ 

Then you can scare the shit out of him with some prepd mail message from ISP or something if you get the proof


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## PVTCaboose1337 (Sep 27, 2010)

Throughout my whole computer experience I have never had filters.  My parents just explained "the stuff" to me and then sent me off.  Trust me, that might be tough, but it works.  At 14 I was helping friends bypass the filters on their computers.  Letting the kids figure out "the stuff" they find online might be a bad idea, that is why you have to explain what "the stuff" is before they get into it.


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## Frick (Sep 27, 2010)

You all know better than his mother. Amazing.

Otherwise, you can give openDNS a whirl. It's totally free and works like a charm.


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## 95Viper (Sep 27, 2010)

Sorry, can't help you with the software part, but the opendns idea that Frick mentioned is good.

You can sign up for opendns and set your account up to control what you want to and they have FamilyShield...

What does FamilyShield block?

Adult websites that are unsuitable for kids
Proxy and anonymizer sites commonly used by savvy kids to bypass traditional Web filters
Phishing sites that aim to trick you into handing over personal or financial information
Some virus-spreading malware websites

OPENdns basic is free, too.

No preaching from me; it is your child.  I'll just wish you all the best at your endeavors.

EDIT:

However, if you want the ultimate software to do what you are asking and you feel the need is worth it, then for $99.95 there is eBlaster | mac 2010 by SpectorSoft


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## Radical_Edward (Sep 27, 2010)

I helped one of my customers put K9 on their computer, it even makes a barking noise thru the speakers when they try to go to blocked sites, so if your in the next room you can catch them faster.


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## SNiiPE_DoGG (Sep 27, 2010)

Ill just chime in here that I got a filter put on my internet when I was a kid and it took me only a week to find the websites which werent known to the filter. If the kid is 14 then you really are just hindering his sexual development and sexual self awareness by stopping him. You want him to start dating a girl and not know how to please her? thats what internet filtering does.

But I can only advise, I'm not trying to tell you that you don't know how to raise your child, only how he will react to this "filtering"


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## Nancycy (Sep 28, 2010)

Hybrid_theory said:


> Well as much as I agree with all of you, really the best way to do it is get a web blocker. The only free ones I know of are server based and require more work: Untangle is pretty straight forward, requires a dedicated machine though. There are probably home software solutions, but if your kid wants to get around them, there's usually a way.



Thx, Hybrid theory. A web filter should be useful.


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## zithe (Sep 28, 2010)

mudkip said:


> For your info , I bet he has been wackin his little weener for 2 years now. I can understand the no violence thing though. But sex is not something you should act weird about.
> 14 year old boys are full of hormones and acting so weird about it only makes it harder for him.



Dunno, that level of self control might come in handy one day.


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## streetfighter 2 (Sep 28, 2010)

Hybrid_theory said:


> Well as much as I agree with all of you, really the best way to do it is get a web blocker. The only free ones I know of are server based and require more work: Untangle is pretty straight forward, requires a dedicated machine though. There are probably home software solutions, but if your kid wants to get around them, there's usually a way.



I honestly think this is the best way to go.  Screw keylogging.  Just start dropping the banhammer on websites via a good firewall.

If Nancycy has a spare computer and a bit of tech skills she could even build a ClearOS based gateway that has enterprise level website/protocol/porn blocking so you can really limit the scope of the wee-ones internets.

Oh and yes I do not know if I'd be blocking the internet for my own kid but Nancycy has to decide for herself.  Children don't come with a manual.


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## Techtu (Sep 28, 2010)

Nancycy ... are you using Windows 7 on your son's setup? If so that has some form of built in parental controls and may be of use for you here? I've never had the need to stop myself from wacking off to porn though J/K  so not had the need to use it myself, anyway's if you do have Windows 7 then I'm sure someone would gladly guide you through the necessary step's needed.


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## andrew123 (Oct 4, 2010)

you can purchase routers that block certain keywords and URL's.. that may be the way to go, he would still have privacy and you would get some piece of mind.

here is a link to one of these types of routers:

http://reviews.cnet.com/routers/iboss-home-parental-control/4505-3319_7-33669195.html


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## Bjorn_Of_Iceland (Oct 4, 2010)

Imo, porn on sites and other media is unavoidable. Heck, I was secretly looking through my older brother's porn mags hidden under his bed when I was 12..

The best thing you can do is to educate the kid, tell him that stuff like those are fantasies, tell him the reality of sex and its purpose.


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