"rj" <rj@yahoo.com> wrote in message
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"DianaC" <dianaiad@vernoyoudontizon.net> wrote in
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"Elroy Willis" <elroywillis@swbell.net> wrote in message
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DianaC <dianaiad@vernoyoudontizon.net> wrote in alt.atheism

<snip>

they would be so hedged about with parental blocks that the only
pages they could call up would be Harry Potter websites,

Is this the kind of filters you actually say you'd set up, or are you
just making fun of Harry Potter websites?

Both. (Grin) I like Harry Potter.

I have already bought the next book in the series, and am waiting with
eager expectation for the UPS guy on July 16th. (I think it's July
16th...) ANYWAY,

but yeah, I'd set up very strict filters, that come down with age and
proven responsibility levels. I can't see restricting a sixteen year
old much, but up until they are about 12 or so? (snort) They ain't
gettin' NOWHERE on the internet without me knowing exactly what they
are doing; preferably before they do it.

But then, I'm a mother. That's my job.

I always considered it a lot more fun to do a review of the DNS logs
over dinner. The message was quite clear, if you didn't want to be
taken to task over where you surfed, don't go there. The occasional
hit didn't even warrant me bringing it up, but a flurry of activity
over 30 minutes or more would certainly make for an interesting
pre-dinner private conversation. If it were to occur again, then it
would be made public knowledge. I would always ask them if they wanted
Mom to talk to them about it. That was worse than death. We would
also discuss other websites that the kids found humorous and fun too.
Once they got the idea that their actions were logged and they were
accountable, their attitude was not of me being a censor, but a guide
and I found some pretty funny stuff along the way too.

That works too, though it does have some privacy issues. I'll bet
anything you get reamed for this here by somebody.
Not by ME, mind you, I like the idea. But...

Remember, I didn't have this problem. My youngest kid is twenty; by the
time the internet was getting really dangerous, she was as net savvy as
I am; we 'grew up' together with computers. We've had at least one in
the house since the Vic 20.

And that is how I know how nasty a place the internet can be, as well as
how wild and wonderful it is. My kids and I learned together. That's how
I know what I would do with a child just beginning to learn about it
now; layer upon layer of protection until education and guidance (mine)
got him/her ready to fly alone.

If I found a site that I found objectionable and they refused to quit
visiting the site, I natted it to disney.com. Never have I had to nat
or block any porn sites. Stupid stuff, yes, but not porn. Seems that
once they realize that porn is all acting, they lose interest. The
number of times I have had to block something is twice.

But you did block it.

Censoring the internet is not the answer.

You blocked a site. That is censorship.

...and notice; I'm not advocating censoring the INTERNET. I'm saying
that you should protect and educate your children to deal with it.

Education is. To this day I
believe I made the right choice and the kids are grown. Does the
occasional porn site come up in the DNS logs? Sure. But 99.994% of
the traffic is about cars, computers, books, music, and various news
services. How old are the kids? Youngest is 20. How many? 4. They
are all doing quite well for themselves and are as well adjusted and
reasonble people as you would ever meet. I meet other people who work
with them or have worked with them and all I get are good reports. Let
the kids discover the real world on their own. If you pay attention to
them and talk to them you will catch any problems early on and it will
be easy to correct.

Indeed. But handing a completely unprepared kid a computer for his
bedroom and saying 'have fun' isn't doing that, is it?

These kids have been on the internet since about 1988.

Go ahead - censor those kids. When they get out in the real world
without mom or dad censoring them, they will "go nuts". I have seen so
many kids finally get to college and get kicked out because all they
did was party. In every case it was the kids whose parents were very
strict and would not let the kid make their own choices and mistakes.
It really was sad to watch it happen. I worked for a fairly prestigous
college for a few years and saw it time and again.

Brother, what IS it about you guys that you see 'theist' and don't read
what she writes, you are so damned convinced that she is OBVIOUSLY
saying what you think a 'fundy' would say? You haven't paid one bit of
attention to anything I have written about this topic, or you would know
that you are actually AGREEING with me.

YOU are the one who talked about 'natting' porn sites to disney.com. YOU
are the one who is talking about education and talking to your kids and
being there for them and preparing them to handle the real world.

You would no more hand an unprepared kid a computer for his bedroom with
nothing but the instruction to 'have fun' than I would. You would do
precisely what I would do; because you did it. You paid attention. You
taught your kids. You dealt with the stuff they 'found' not only by
talking to them, but also by doing something physical; censoring the
site yourself.

Elroy Willis <elroywillis@swbell.net> wrote in message

DianaC <dianaiad@vernoyoudontizon.net> wrote in alt.atheism

Elroy Willis <elroywillis@swbell.net> wrote in message

DianaC <dianaiad@vernoyoudontizon.net> wrote in alt.atheism

Do you have ANY idea what unsupervised internet access in a child's
room opens up?

A big can of naked worms for parents who try to shield their kids from
the outside world.

Indeed. And since one of the jobs of parenthood is to do just that until
the kids are old enough to deal with it, I'm for keeping the worms in the
can...

Even Bible-god Himself was supposed to have let Adam and Eve choose to
eat from the fruit or tree of knowledge. Like putting an internet
terminal in the middle of a child's bedroom, and letting them decide
whether or not to access it. He didn't even lock it away from them in
some special room which they couldn't get to.
You're actually coming across as more strict than Bible god himself,
since he at least didn't completely lock away the keys to wisdom and
new information.
You should be ashamed of yourself, actually!

Elroy?
P******************.

All Adam and Eve could do was experiment with themselves. (Grin)

THEY didn't have to worry about some pervert making a date with their
thirteen year old on a chatroom....