h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi Ben,

Normally I really like reading what you write and maybe this is just me reading the wrong message from betwixt the lines but I feel like your trying to tell me how to suck eggs on the 'Internet safety for children' thread

Just so you know, I code in 5 langages and use 4 browsers - Opera being my favourite because of its full Java functionality, its strict adherence to the W3 consortium 'rules' relating to HTML and its quite simply 'elegant'

Firefox comes 2nd, Netscape 3rd and IE is only used for crappy sites that I have to use - like getting Windoze updates etc where Microsoft have (seemingly) jinxed things on purpose

I can imagine what you said wasn't directly aimed at me, but as your post immediately follows one of mine, it can look that way

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You can set browsers up to question every time a site wants to set a cookie, install an Active X control, run a Java applet, etc, and just doing that helps to educate web users in website risk.
>>

True.

But this doesn't really apply to what Lucky Star said: "But how can we see if those barriers are being got round? I know there's a way to see what sites have been accessed cos someone showed me once....but I've forgotten now "

Any net-savvy nine-year-old knows how to enable/disable cookies, clear the cache and load a 'false' history - hell, they can even download a browser, use it for a few days, delete it and all traces that any typical parent would ever find

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You can also set up browsers to not go to specific categories of sites, but I've never done that, so I have no idea how effective it is.
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Not very

IE in particular is much, much worse than useless as it gives a completely false sense of secuirty - try setting the filter to max and then do a Google Image search for a 5-letter synonym for cat - but make sure your maiden aunt isn't looking

Making "security issues constantly visible to the user" only works for naive users - Lucky Star's kids sound like they are anything but

" ... isn't going to stop your kids meeting child molesters in parks ..."

Damn straight!

No technology will

Positive parenting is the only viable approach

The links I provided in my 1st post to that thread were followed by me saying ". I have a hunch that by sitting down with our kid(s) and explaining why they can't access certain sites etc has to be a good thing - if nothing else it will show that we care" and I am perplexed by your continued 'technlogical' approach

As for your comment "The main reason for not letting the kids onto porn sites isn't the porn, it's the malware that downloads from them.", that really saddens me - kids are our future - PCs are tools - what's more important?

I hope this post doesn't cause any/too much friction between us, please know that I wouldn't write this if I didn't care

six7s

I can only address the issues I have faced personally six7s, and those relate to teenagers not to young children - hence the gaps in my reply.

However, since I do know that it is possible to configure user browsers from the admin account so that the user cannot clear the history files, or change the security settings (although I do not know how to because I have not needed to find out) I offered those as routes for parents explore.

What I hoped to indicate was that although technology is not the answer, it can have a role to play in creating online streetsmarts, and that role is not limited to prevention but includes education. I stand by my statement that having continual warnings pop up is part of providing the message that you have to be careful on the internet, for the sweet and simple reason that I have seen it work with the afformentioned teenager.

I probably should have made it clearer that I was not offering a total solution to your online child-welfare needs, but an avenue to explore and a single strand in a multi-stranded approach.

The fundamental question that we are dodging in this thread is whether or not you want to protect your children or whether or not you want to give them street-smarts. The latter approach is infinitely more scary in the short term, since it involves trusting them, but it is safer in the long run because they can take street-smarts with them wherever they go.

*shrugs*

Ben

Bugger - these would have been better in the other thread - I hadn't realised you had started a new one.

Oh well.

I'll point them over here, since it is too hot to copy the salient points over.

B