"Leopard’s parental controls play catch-up with Windows Vista’s. Now you can set time limits for your children’s computer use (different for weekdays and weekends), and even make the Mac lock itself at bedtime. A log tracks their activities, including e-mail and chat correspondents and Web sites visited."Hmm... looks like I know what Joanne is getting me for Christmas--a new operating system!
(Note to a particular gift giver: No, you don't have to get me a new OS)
EDIT: Based on the response of the first two comments, the meaning of this post was unclear. The Parental control is not to control the child unit (LBA). It is to control the stays-up-to-late-on-the-computer-spousal-unit. At least Joanne got the gist.
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5 comments:
I have mixed emotions about parental controls on computers. I'm a *strong* advocate of teaching kids to make correct decisions and think on their own. I'm also a strong advocate of teaching kids to swim rather than trying to keep them out of every body of water that exists. I know those aren't necessarily two parallel (or even strongly related) issues, but they seem related to me somehow.
Kids can't fall into the internet and drown. Sure, there are predators out there, but I think they're more reliably dealt with by teaching kids/people to recognize inappropriate/predatory behavior rather than locking (which should hereinafter be referred to as "attempting to lock") the kids out.
Limiting time spent online or on the computer is best handled the way any other family rules are handled. You make the rule, then you enforce the behavior through monitoring and and building a trusting (and trustworthy) relationship.
Yeah, they're going to push the limits and break the occasional rule. That's called growing up. But they'll learn to make decisions about right and wrong (and appropriate and inappropriate) for themselves. And those skills are what will really keep them out of the deep end when you're not around.
Pointless. Kids will get around it. My plan is to just setup a dedicated fw between the cable modem and the router. Any old dual nic'd linux box will do. That will cover most of it. Can't cover the times when they just piggyback off a neighbors wireless.
The other answer: make the computers have to be in a public portion of the house. That will help even more.
-Jot
1. Computer in a public portion of the house - CHECK
2. Rules governing its use - CHECK (sort of; ok, not really)
3. Monitoring - This one's gotten tougher since I go to bed so much earlier than he does now a days. :-)
You're also getting a Mac? Or am I missing something here?
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