my kids

Still under2 but when they start usding the internet should i spy on them

Its as bad as reading their diary !!

No idea what to do !!

translation

"Unwanted exposure to pornography does occur online, but those most likely to be exposed are those seeking it out, such as older male minors."

That'll be them pesky pop ups thet continue to arrive just after mom has walked into your room...

Good grief

"the solutions are better parenting and education rather than technological silver bullets"

AND THE AWARD FOR BLEEDINGLY OBVIOUS CONCLUSION OF THE MONTH GOES TO...

@Paul Murphy

"When they are older then they can have one of their own in their room(s), but by then they will hopefully not be treating the internet as a place to download porn, but more like a library."

Yes a library stuffed FULL of pr0n.

@Lionel Baden

If its a family PC by all means set ground rules and keep an eye on them but spying on them is probably taking it too far. If they discover you're secretly monitoring them (and they will if they're tech savvy) you'll just end up losing their trust even as they find ways around it.

An EASY, Real solution

Why is the easiest most effective solution ignored? All of the issues of stalking, exposure to porn, cyberbullying, filtering and censorship violating the rights of adults ect. on and on.

The solution that would work, wouldn't cost, wouldn't block anyone else...

Make any adult that provides access to the internet to a minor legally responsible for what is done, seen. That's it, Simple clear cut. No one else is restricted, No ISPs forced to censor.

Why shouldn't a parent installing internet and a web cam in their 11 yo daughter's bedroom be responsible? Would they drop her off at midnight in a downtown park in her knickers? Even if she promised not to talk to strangers and just to meet friends :P Wake up the internet isn't and never was your local public library. It's grand central station, and a Bali Market, and traveling sex bazaar all rolled into, one times a million.

But the internet is so essential to education hehehehehe yeah right thats why in the most wired classrooms.. can kids locate the Indian ocean on a map? Or tell what a round head is without googling it? The adults providing the access are responsible for its use. the Internet is not your babysitter believe it or not. its a public highway you send your kids to play in then blame drivers if your kid gets hit while in an ipod induced haze :P

Sod 'em!

Why cant you spy on what your kids look at on the internet?

Most companies around the world will have an IT policy centered around "This computer belongs to the company and you have no expectation of privacy", "Websites accessed will be monitored", "etc".

You bought them the bloody computer and as long as you make it perfectly clear that their activities will be checked from time to time then that will always be top most in their mind before they visit suspect websites.

Make good on your threat though otherwise your just talking crap, which is what most kids think their parents are talking all the time anyway.

As Paul Murphy says above "Be their parent and not their friend".

Internet use is never private

Tell them outright internet use is being monitored. Secure their PC and don't give them admin rights. Install a transparent proxy server on your router-firewall, if you're up to that. Review the logs. Talk to them if their browsing habits disturb you. Explain the dangers of internet use; hint: it's not exposure to pornography!

Never hide your oversight, explain your actions and you will not lose their trust.

And by the time they can circumvent your security, they're old enough to use the net unsupervised, IMHO :)

And some more bleedin' obvious...

"Youth report sexual solicitation of minors by minors more frequently, but these incidents, too, are understudied, underreported to law enforcement and not part of most conversations about online safety."

Hasn't this been going on for thousands of years (if not longer)? Since when is the internet responsible for standard teenage behaviour?