Great question KL.
As I'm sure you're already away, any form of
protection of one's children and teenagers
requires a combination of approaches.
Child protection research says the same thing -
there is no *one* answer. It requires a number of
elements to be implemented.
Conroy's general filter was to protect adults from
themselves as much as to protect children, which
in effect was to say that adults should be treated
as children - the very reason I didn't agree with
it. It was an 'all in' approach which I think we
all agree wouldn't work.
I would argue that protecting children in the
manner you asked requires a multi-layered approach
and there is nothing to say that filters,
passwords etc, are pointless in this context. They
are not the *only* element, but I don't recall you
saying that anyway.
As has been pointed out by others, you need to be
aware of the possible consequences when using any
approach. In this case, filtering. You also need
to be aware, as has also been pointed out, that
your children may have the skill, now or in the
future, to bypass the 'protection' you implement.
When this occurs I'd suggest you need to plan for
what you think is the most effective response to
avoid a knee-jerk reaction.
In my case I have machines for my children which
can be easily seen *and* they have basic filtering
*and* I speak to them about what I want them to
focus on. I also explain to them about my concerns
if they do 'wander' somewhere.
Their e-mail is all filtered to my address
(incoming/outgoing). I only read it if it's
to/from someone I don't know. When they're older
I'll stop doing this.
I also sometimes have to 'unblock' sites <shrug>
which is no big deal. My children know to ask and
that they won't be in trouble if it's something I
don't want them to see.
I would also argue that the mechanisms one uses
need to change as the children become older, more
skilled, more curious and as they push boundaries
more.
From our perspective we tend to focus on parental
responsibilities (I've always argued against the
notion of 'rights' for parents).
Consequently, none of this is perfect but it's the
best we've come up with that fits with our view of
our responsibilities as parents.
Regards,
Patrick
--
SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/
Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
