Scared Dad Must Disable iSight!

[seanmolin]

Anything you strictly forbid now, they will go crazy on when they first get a taste of it, and then it's beyond your control. It's not healthy.

BAM! Nailed it. The forbidden fruit theory isn't just a theory.

It's called responsibility. Teach it, live it. We all make mistakes. We've all made mistakes. It's about teaching right from wrong, and being there for support and guidance.

I love parenting threads.

 

[daleycss]

parental controls are great. I use them for my kids. You can see every website they visit, even if its not blocked, you can block applications.... And even if you want to (i dont do this) you can control the amount of time their on the computer. It works great for my family.

 

[darknite38]

His iSight needs a hysterectomy

 

[cocky jeremy]

Enjoy controlling her now, and don't be surprised when she sleeps with 15 guys within 10 days of turning 18.

 

[SideStepSociety]

BAM! Nailed it. The forbidden fruit theory isn't just a theory.

It's called responsibility. Teach it, live it. We all make mistakes. We've all made mistakes. It's about teaching right from wrong, and being there for support and guidance.

I love parenting threads.

I definitely agree with this. However, I don't think responsibility is something that's taught.

I think it's something one needs to learn on their own.

When I was 11, I got absolutely hammered at my brother's high school graduation. Puked black and everything. My parents hadn't tried to stop me or give me a lecture about how alcohol is bad and I should never ever drink it ever. They didn't try to "keep it a secret" from me and prevent my exposure to it.

The next morning, when I woke up, they knew my pounding head was punishment enough. In fact, they made me breakfast and said to me, "Rough night, huh? I'll bet you won't want to do that again for awhile."

Exposure leads to adaptation. The prevention of exposure to things that surround us in every day life is the worst thing I think a parent can do, personally.

How can one learn from mistakes unless one makes the mistakes in the first place? You don't learn to fly without falling a few times first.

Maybe I was just one of the "good kids", but I definitely appreciate my parents much more for letting me experiment and, frankly, be a kid.

 

[mjsmke]

Its a good idea to block isight and have some sites restricted. But keeping a record of what she is searching for and observing her every move is an invasion of her privacy. What if she wants to research something personal that she doesnt want you to know about? Also its easy to get around any parental controlls on a mac. The more you restrict, the more she will want to get around it.

 

[Vercingetorix]

Lots of great parenting advice in here from 21-year-old kids who think they know everything.

Modern parents are in a tough position. Give your kids unfettered and unmonitored access to a computer, and you're an idiot. Turn on parental controls and otherwise monitor and cripple their access and you're a Nazi. We haven't yet arrived at a cultural consensus as to where the happy medium is.

I'm not that worried about the symbolism and the values-teaching aspects of parental controls; I'm interested primarily in two things: A) keeping my kids alive until adulthood, and B) limiting their computer time enough that it doesn't drive out everything else in their lives. I'm going with a two-pronged approach: complete and open access to a computer in a public family area, and bedroom computers that start out with almost everything locked down and turned off. I'll gradually re-enable things on their bedroom computers as they get older and can make a reasonable case to me that they're mature enough to handle it. If I'm going to err, I'm going to err on the side that doesn't end up with my daughter dead in a ditch in Kentucky because she was talking to some creep before she was old enough to understand what she was getting into while her parents had no idea what was happening.

 

[gcthompson]

This page has the following:

http://www.nsa.gov/ia/_files/factsheets/macosx_10_6_hardeningtips.pdf


Disable Integrated iSight and Sound Input

The best way to disable an integrated iSight camera is to have
an Apple-certified technician remove it. Placing opaque tape
over the camera is less secure but still helpful. A less persistent
but still helpful method is to remove /System/Library/
Quicktime/QuicktimeUSBVDCDigitizer.component,
which will prevent some programs from accessing the camera.
To mute the internal microphone, open the Sound preference
pane, select the Input tab, and set the microphone input volume
level to zero. To disable the microphone, although it disables
the use of the sound system, remove the following file from
/System/Library/Extensions: IOAudioFamily.kext

Note on removing kext files: To make the system reflect the
removal of kext files, run the following command and reboot:
sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions

 

[JS77]

Lots of great parenting advice in here from 21-year-old kids who think they know everything.

Modern parents are in a tough position. Give your kids unfettered and unmonitored access to a computer, and you're an idiot. Turn on parental controls and otherwise monitor and cripple their access and you're a Nazi. We haven't yet arrived at a cultural consensus as to where the happy medium is.

I'm not that worried about the symbolism and the values-teaching aspects of parental controls; I'm interested primarily in two things: A) keeping my kids alive until adulthood, and B) limiting their computer time enough that it doesn't drive out everything else in their lives. I'm going with a two-pronged approach: complete and open access to a computer in a public family area, and bedroom computers that start out with almost everything locked down and turned off. I'll gradually re-enable things on their bedroom computers as they get older and can make a reasonable case to me that they're mature enough to handle it. If I'm going to err, I'm going to err on the side that doesn't end up with my daughter dead in a ditch in Kentucky because she was talking to some creep before she was old enough to understand what she was getting into while her parents had no idea what was happening.

+1 This is the smartest post in the thread.

 

[stubeeef]

some of the reply's are obviously from other children.
I too am looking for ways to disable a camera. When they become adults they are responsible for their actions. I am not going into decades of parenting for the sport of others critique. I congratulate the OP on being a concerned parent. The flip side has not been discussed much, but I truly don't want other computer savvy kidz activating the camera from the outside (hacked) either.
I will explore a mechanical solution to include camera removal if need be, I liked the spectorsoft solution.
Not every parent is blessed with a child that is eager to do the right thing, with the usual curiosities or other normal explorations of youth. Some are either constantly in trouble or seeking it. I am still responsible for my child's actions regardless of what wonderful method of trust I attempted to impart and mean to mitigate both the potential harm that can be self inflicted and the liability of their actions.

But keeping a record of what she is searching for and observing her every move is an invasion of her privacy.

My 7 yr. old doesn't have parental privacy rights! and neither does my 15 year old. I won't just give them the keys with out knowledge of where they are going, who they are going with, who will be there, and an absolute return time. Privacy be damned, I am sure a lot of pervs really want 7 yr olds to have privacy rights.