South Carolina to force device makers to block porn?

[Valmy]

So I googled that Santa question and apparently he is.

Told you Virginia.

[Valmy]

I'd be interested to hear what "talk" the parents here will give, or have already given, on porn.

Or did you mean the sex talk Speesh?

Wait was I not supposed to talk to my six year old about porn yet? I just figured I would rather he hear it from me.

[OttoVonBismarck]

Since the topic has come up... how do I, as a parent, block my kids from being able to access porn, either on a PC/Mac, but also on an iPad?

Up till now their only computer experience has been an iPad.  Since they can't read, they're just picking at pictures that look interesting.  But Timmy is in grade 1 and learning to read.  Pretty sure he'll learn about search engines.

I mean I'm sure that whatever blockers I can install he'll eventually figure out how to get around.  But I'd rather him be in his teens when he first discovers hard-core pornography, and not 8.

It's all going to depend on how far you want to go. The "softest" technique would be more of a rules based approach, tell your kids what they can/can't do on the internet, and tell them if they accidentally end up on a site they know they shouldn't, they should navigate away. Kids are smarter about this than people give them credit for--then you track it and if you catch them breaking the rules they lose internet privileges for awhile.

A middle road would be software that basically tries to implement a good "blacklist" of known (and frequently updated) inappropriate sites, and usually it has some heuristics engine that can sometimes make evaluations "on the fly" too. These are "pretty decent" and are about the equivalent of the solutions corporations/enterprises use to block sites from being accessed at work. They aren't 100% full proof, but they're "pretty good", and depending on if your kid is really persistent/tech savvy they may be all you ever need.

The most extreme would be software that, when on, blocks your computer from hitting any domain/address that isn't on a pre-approved whitelist. A lot of times software that does blacklisting has a mode that works this way, but there is some dedicated software that does it too.

[viper37]

many antivirus&firewall products come with a parental firewall of sort.  I know Eset Smart Security has it, and I figure most if not all non free anti-virus have it too.  They block known domain and keywords to contain porn, I think.  You input a password that will be required to change the configuration, usually.

It will work fine on a 8 year old, but just don't expect it to work until he reaches 18

On top of the parental controls, I made my 8 year old fully aware that I can and will check his search & browsing history.  Worst I've found so far was him googling whether Santa or Elf on the Shelf are real. 

A true libertarian would let their kids learn for themselves

But yeah, it's sensible policy, until their late teens probably, to regularly check their devices.  Not so much for porn once they're 12-13, but more for suspicious activities like new "friends" appearing out of nowhere.  Pedophiles are hunters, and Facebook (and other social media) are often their first line of attack.

Ah, and if you have a webcam on a laptop, tape it.  Seriously.  These things are often easy to hack.

[derspiess]

I'd be interested to hear what "talk" the parents here will give, or have already given, on porn.

Or did you mean the sex talk Speesh?

  Birds and the bees.  Since she witnessed it in living color, they had to tell her what it was.

[derspiess]

How long until Tomasino figures out how to delete his browsing history?

That at least is easy to see as well.

What about when he discovers private browsing modes? 

Oh, it'll be an arms race I'm sure.

But you can't really blame a kid for wondering about Santa or that damn Elf on the Shelf.

I know.  I think he's figured it out.  He's in third grade, same year I officially stopped believing.  He approached me about it the same way I told my mom-- by saying some kids in his class don't believe in Santa to gauge my reaction, and then later hinting that he had doubts. I've been vague in my responses, other than to fire a warning shot across his bow that he better not ruin it for his sister.

[Jacob]

I know.  I think he's figured it out.  He's in third grade, same year I officially stopped believing.  He approached me about it the same way I told my mom-- by saying some kids in his class don't believe in Santa to gauge my reaction, and then later hinting that he had doubts. I've been vague in my responses, other than to fire a warning shot across his bow that he better not ruin it for his sister.

I find this sort of thing fascinating to watch.

Neither my wife nor I were raised with the belief in Santa Claus - my Christmas traditions are different and she doesn't really have any - so it's not something we are going to use in our family.

That said, I guess I'll have to figure out the best way to encourage him not to ruin it for other kids so it's not purely academical.

[Barrister]

My recall is that I figured it out pretty early on, but that it seemed like my parents got such a kick out of it that I should play along with it for their sake.

Timmy has mentioned a couple times that other kids in his class don't believe in Santa so I thought he had it all figured out.  But we started the Elf on the Shelf this year - and one of the rules is you're not allowed to touch the elf.  So when one day the elf was hiding on top of a wall clock, and it got pumped and the elf fell, and Mrs B picked up the elf to put him back - Timmy was super concerned he wasn't going to come back.  There's no way he was faking that.

[Admiral Yi]

I can't recall a time when I believed in Santa Claus.

[CountDeMoney]

Probably not, but still, the stuff some of the state reps come up with.

No, South Carolina has absolutely nothing better to do.

[dps]

20$ to sell unblocked devices? Looks like a thinly disguised porn tax to me.

Yep, read the first sentence in the article.

[The Brain]

I don't remember it ever being put to me that Santa was real.

[derspiess]

I don't remember it ever being put to me that Santa was real.

My mom got way more out of it than I did. Even when I got older she marked certain presents as being from Santa. I don't think she ever acknowledged he's not real.