Right now we're using the Microsoft controls and Norton 360. It's fine, but I have a feeling there are better things out there. We already had it for backup and virus protection, so we just started using the parental controls through it, too. (Though if I remember correctly, the parental controls were something they walked us through on the phone when I called about something else; we couldn't just check a box to enable them. They need to change that.)
My oldest is 10 and using a wide range of sites for school, so we're also at the point that specifically choosing sites he can access wouldn't work anymore. At first we were just talking about it and trusting, and then last year my normally very trustworthy DS started clicking on ads that were taking him to sites he shouldn't have been on. So we took away internet access on any device he can be out of our sight with (his DS) and started using the parental controls through Norton 360 that we hadn't bothered with when the kids were younger.
Last week he was working on a research project online, and at the end he told me he was going to wipe his history. WTH? Which friend taught him about that? I know what he was doing online and there was nothing he would have felt any real need to hide, but apparently this is the new "tech savvy and cool" thing all the 4th graders are doing. Ugh.
Last edited by rach3975; 04-06-2014 at 11:56 PM.
|