I’m looking forward to the answers on this one (please post to Twitter!). We’ve used the parental control software with our Mindspring/Earthlink account for years, but it was discontinued at the beginning of October, and we don’t know what to use now.

I put all the machines on my network on opendns. Open DNS is a free DNS service that allows network owners to define their network in an easy to use interface, and then set filtering options that really work well.

What is DNS:

The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical naming system for computers, services, or any resource participating in the Internet. It associates various information with domain names assigned to such participants. Most importantly, it translates humanly meaningful domain names to the numerical (binary) identifiers associated with networking equipment for the purpose of locating and addressing these devices world-wide. An often used analogy to explain the Domain Name System is that it serves as the “phone book” for the Internet by translating human-friendly computer hostnames into IP addresses. For example, http://www.example.com translates to 208.77.188.166.

+1 on OpenDNS.com. It’s what I use, too, though integration with Apple’s Time Capsule leaves a bit to be desired. (ages: 4 & 7)

+1 on OpenDNS.com…use it at work too.

Picked up Time Capsule 3 days ago…hadn’t tried to configure it for OpenDNS yet. Great…so much for a perfect solution. /me hopes “Bren” is wrong. 😉

OK, ages 2, 6, 8, 12, 15, 18 and two that have married and moved on. I don’t worry about the adult ones so much.

I use Norton 360 Premier Edition on the family PC. I want the full-blown coverage it provides, then I can modify it to meet my needs. If my kids can’t see it online, no one else in the house should be looking at it either. No pop-ups, spam protection to death, etc.

Some topics get modified by website or topic. Nursing mom’s are probably familiar with the kinds of generic blocks that are pre-programmed. But they are easy enough to add by exception.

The PC is in a public place (dining room) so there really is no privacy. Chat/IM with people we don’t know, is a no-no. Even with people we do know, we don’t encourage it.

Email is handled by online provider (Yahoo).

I am clear that the Internet is like a big city. Most of it is fine. If you turn down a wrong road, recognize it as a wrong turn, and go back. Show me if you think it is really inappropriate.

Younger kids (under 12 or so) have to have a website cleared first. None of my kids under 11 use the Internet. My 11 year-old does for access to Boy Scout email and websites.

This isn’t an area for open source or cheap products. Spring for the $70 a year, and get the good stuff.

+1 on OpenDNS.com

We’ve been using openDNS for almost a year at it has been flawless.
(ages: 2, 4, 13, 17)

I don’t use software – if he uses the computer (they are all password protected) he has someone sitting right there watching him. A parent taking interest and keeping an eye on where their kids are going/what they do online is the best defense in my opinion.

4 and 7 year old. I just put Glubble on the machine and the 7 year old hates it. I had set up IE with button links to some major kid sites and I remind them each day to only go to those sites, and I ask every time I see them on the computer what they’re doing. But the 7 year old is downloading games – Nick Jr., Discovery Kids, Cartoon Network games, so it’s not bad yet, but it will be.

We’re going to limit the gaming online now, we have a Wii with a bunch of kids games that’s much safer but the 7 year old is starting a Destination Imagination group and we’ve been debating getting her an email address to talk to her group. That scares the bejeesus out of me.

I have 6 children, ages 13, 11,10,8,7 and 6. They discovered a new game on line from some kids at school. It made me very leary, but the website asks for parents approval and email address to verify. It has a bunch of games, fun things for Haloween, and even recipes that my kids and I do together. I actually love the balloon games in the circus world. Try this one and you will tell me if it is not a safe place for kids to play. Go to http://www.tootsville.com.

I have a 6 year old and use KidRocket kidrocket.

It limits content and monitors time of usage.

Education, education, education. (My daughters are 9 and 12.)

Of course, I also happen to believe that the fear of child predators is way overblown. Kids are 17 times more likely to commit suicide than to be abducted by a stranger (and most of those aren’t even online). A little education for the kids goes a long way here. And it also probably reduces the chance of them committing suicide. (I’ve even known people who have attempted suicide. That’s a potential worry that hits closer to home. I’ve never known anyone who has been abducted by an Internet predator.)

-TimK

@Dominick: The best defence, short and long term, imho. If you really teach a kid what not to do or look at online, they won’t need policing via some software that’s guaranteed to be circumventable by any kid with the motivation to do a few google searches.

I think all these virtual worlds do a pretty night job of protecting kids online. My children play a bunch of them.