Hey guys. My mom's in the market for a computer that my sister can use while I'm gone. I'm leaving for college this fall, and won't be able to help them with virus removal, and typical Windows maintenence. She agrees that a Mac would be a good solution. She's looking at a refurbished low-end iMac ($799) for just web browsing, email, Word, and pictures. However, since it's mainly for my younger sister, she requires that an internet filter be put on it, to block porn and racy chatrooms, as well as other questionable content. On her old PC, she uses American Familty Filter. Is there anything similar to that for Mac. Because I can't seem to find anything that's Mac compatible. Thanks.
Show her how she can create a new account with no admin privilidges, and what parental controls she has. You can basically decide which sites your sister can visit, along with e-mail options, etc.
I believe leopard will have more parental control... not that it helps you right now. Could you wait?
I think there are some controls built in, which if you use a limitd account, you can pretty tightly restrict what sites can be accessed. Try looking for parental controls in the Mac help.
I'm using Safari and the parental controls and security are good enough unless your younger sister is a hacker in which case this issue is the least of your problems My only concern is getting enough RAM to run some of the more graphic hogs.
Yeah, but I don't think my mom wants to give permission for certain sites. Because then my sis couldn't research topics or use google. She just wants bad sites blocked.
The only way to block the evil from the internet is just not to use it. No matter how many blocks you put on there is always something.
My kids currently use KidsBrowser which only allows them to go to sites i enter. I'm about ready to upgrade my oldest to BumperCar - which has a huge list of sites they allow. You can modify that list too if you don't like some of them. I saw a filter for sale at the Apple Store yesterday - LOL, my 2 year old liked the picture on the box. The parental controls in 10.4.x actually work - 10.3, not so hot. Good luck!
Yeah... Seriously, your mom needs to lighten up. It does not good to restrict things, proper education is more important. People need to make their own decisions.
most wire/wireless routers have parental controls/ rules to curb the wandering eye. No additional software needed. Simple to set up by keywords or by exact site blocking.
Yah I actually agree unless she is younger than 8-9 years old let her explore the internet on her own
neither is babying your child against everything offensive in the world,honestly,it surprises me all kids today dont just stay in their room for fear of being hurt if they leave.
the guy asked a simple question... lets stick to topic... he did not come here for criticism of how his mother is raising his sister... and lets face it... there is a lot more to worry about than porn on the interwebby... i might consider some of this software if i had a young daughter/s
I just love it when the psuedo-non-parents at MR kick in with their wonderful advice. As a parent, you choose when to expose your kids to different things in the world. Yes, at times you protect them from things that they will have access to when they're older. It's not babying, it's called: raising children. Just like I choose not to let my son play with knives or drive the car (he's 11 months old right now), I choose not to let my daughter (7 years old) use the internet without me being present in the room. Will she at some age have to make those decisions for herself? Of course she will. And when she's ready to make those decisions on her own, I'll let her. But until that point, I will choose what decisions she's old enough and mature enough to make on her own. Saying that you should let children do <fill in the blank> because they'll be able to do it someday on their own is downright ignorant, and annoying to hear *every single time* someone asks about internet filtering or content filtering of any sort. Oh, and I bet this one will really tick you off - I don't let my daughter watch movies that a) I haven't seen, and b) glamorize behavior that's inappropriate and/or unacceptable. You can flame away all you want, but someday, when you're responsible for raising a child, I hope you'll take more time to think about stuff like this.
Self Protection. I deeply respect parents who try to protect their children from the evil that rules the world and the Internet. As for myself I am pleased that my provider enables me to protect me against myself by blocking sides that corrupt your mind. Yes, I am a Christian but that should not really matter, we all should distance ourselves from evil. As mentioned before: Intego or SafeEyes
You people criticizing the OP's mother would make very irresponsible parents. Read mkaake's post, he said everything I wanted to. And I'm not even a parent.
I just wanted to say 'well done' on your post. I imagine that most of the criticism and 'advice' that you got above came from people with no experience of raising children.