Do you agree with Parental Control Software on PCs?

Question

And if yes, up to what age? I'm 17 and my mom still uses it.

Answer 1

I'm a parent of two teens and a 21-year-old, and I agree completely with JohnOSev.  He said it eloquently.

Answer 2

I dont think its a good idea my used it with me and then gave up on it because she didnt see the point as it was like she couldnt trust me.

And if the parent is a good enough parent shouldnt they know what their child is doing on the computer ?

Surely the parents are also good enough to keep there child away from perverts that are spread all over the internet?

Answer 3

I kinda agree with it. I mean if parents trust their children enough to let them use the PC then it shouldn't be a problem but like to stop them going on adult sites by accident  

Answer 4

no i do not agree with it. i mean seriously, what are little kids going to do? look at p**n? yea, right. well, i'm 15 and my dad put parental controls (too much facebook...) and thats fine, but the thing i HATE is that he put time limits.

time limits - the computer shuts down automatically after like 2 or 3 hours, sometimes it shuts down automatically after, like, two minutes.

EDIT: wait, she can access your yahoomessaging?! that's way extreme. has the word privacy lost its meaning? if you are seventeen years old, your mother should trust you to be on your own by now considering the fact that when you're eighteen, you'll legally be an adult and make your OWN decisions. if she keeps treating you like a little kid at this late of an age, i mean seriously....she needs to start trusting her own kid on what you're doing on the computer and allow you to make your own independant decisions

Answer 5

The answer from Molly Maria is ALL good in Theory, but not very Practical...I am the mother of a 13, 14 and 17 year old...Parental Controls are a Protection...teens may THINK they know all about the World and the things in it...but there is a WHOLE faction out there that you kids know NOTHING about and we Parents want to keep it that way...the DARK world of the ON-LINE PERVERT...so yes I am ALL FOR Parental Controls on PC's

Answer 6

I do not agree with parental control software, for several reasons.

1: Privacy. I am obsessively paranoid about the privacy of my personal communications. If I thought for a minute my parents were snooping on me, I would become even more isolated and lonely. If they had done this to me when I was in high school... I was even worse back then. It probably would've given me a mental breakdown.

2: Ineffective. Parental Controls restrict only those who aren't smart enough to get around them. You block my sites on AOL, I download Firefox, don't use AOL, and go right around them. You track my Yahoo Messaging, I use AIM Express and ignore it completely. You block Facebook, I learn about anonymous proxies. It's an escalation war that children of the information age really ought have no problem winning.

3: Atmosphere of paranoia. Do you really trust young people that little? Do you really restrict them THAT much? What do you care if someone spends a few hours a day on Facebook or playing Unreal Tournament? How would you like it if the TV automatically shut off because, well, two hours a day of watching sports is more than enough for you, isn't it?

It states in no uncertain terms that you, as the parent, do not trust your own influence (and at that point, why should you? you obviously have no concept of natural authority - leading by persuasion - if you would stoop to this) and that you do not trust young people to handle themselves online. Did you TEACH them about internet predators? About not meeting people in the flesh that you only know online? About not giving out personal details?

Well, no. See, that requires actual effort on the part of the parent, which brings me to my last point...

4: Laziness. It is lazy on the part of the parent. It shows you do not have the interest, compassion, or ability to lead by example, to teach properly, to demonstrate the right way to handle yourself, show your children the dangers of misuse, and lead them - through words rather than force - into the right way of doing things.

It reminds me of parents who sit their children in front of the television as a babysitter and walk off.

Answer 7

It is an excellent idea. The very fact that the child is aware that it is in place will deter them from becoming involved in inappropriate activities.

I don't agree that 17 is too old; at that age, you are  still not worldly-wise  and you are likely to be very impressionable and easily misled.

Rationing time on the net is also very sensible as youngsters are not good at self-discipline and time management.

Answer 8

YES I agree. But I also agree that Parents should not only just protect their children from internet dangers, but also talk to them as well and 'explain' 'why' it is that they are doing that. It's not more so that they don't trust their children, but others who will contact you from the other side of cyber world. I know you're 17, and there should be more trust in your household. I encourage you to read up on kids who get leured into cyber chat and brainwashed into doing things they normally wouldn't do...and end up dead. It's happened, and all your parents are wanting to do is protect you from such encounters. But yes..I know you're 17, and almost legally an adult. So, the adult thing to do is 'talk' to them calmly and you know what?....the more you know about what is out there, and what not to do, and what to look out for...the more comfortable your parents may become because you will have shown them that you are 'aware' of what's out there. You know 'why' they want to protect you, and then you can assure them that since you understand, then may be you all can come to a compromise. From a parents perspective, they probably don't think you know or understand the extent of what is out there in cyber space and they think from your lack of knowledge of what to do if you should encounter something dangerous, they want to protect you from it. Which I in turn think they should talk to you more about it, and show you what can happen etc.

You wouldn't believe what can happen on Yahoo Messeging either. It's a gateway for anyone to contact you and for anyone to brainwash you into doing something you normally wouldn't do. It can happen. I do believe that too much "protection" withOUT talking to your children can lead them into rebellion. So, I encourage you to talk with your parents about your privacy, and educate yourself 'a lot' on internet perverts, kidnapping (this has happen as well because of the internet), runaways, murders....

You can even take a trip down to your local police station and ask for someone to sit and talk with you about these dangers so that you can educate yourself and understand 'why' your parents are so protective. It very well could give you a different perspective on things and if you still don't understand now, you will be 'thanking' your parents later because of their unconditional love, and nurturing, and protection. And because of their extreme protection, at this very moment, they could be protecting you from potential harm/death/harrassment. You may not see it now, but mark my words...when you become a parent, you will do 'anything' to protect your child from harm, or even potential harm.

So please, try to understand. I know it's frustrating to have such enclosed environment full of protection all the time, but now a days, it really seems like it needs to be because of so many sociopaths out there who prey on vulnerable teens such as yourself who does not want to believe in what their parents are doing, and they will take what you are feeling towards your parents now, and use it against you for their own gain...and that is to gain your trust...then unexpectantly..it happens...you end up hating your parents for being such butts and protecting you and sheltering you so much, that all you want to do is 'show' them that you can do whatever you want and still be ok....and you end up not being ok. You end up somewhere else...meeting some stranger you met online..even in a public place...and they kidnap you...rape you...and then murder you. This not only happens to teens, and kids, this happens to adults too. Everyone should take precaution when it comes to internet. You wouldn't believe how the mind can be manipulated so easily...especially if you are feeling upset, angry at your parents, or whatever bad card that life has delt you, or feeling sad...those are huge keys for internet stalkers to work with and use for their gain.

I hope this helps. Probably more than what you wanted to hear, but if I can reach just one person, then this is all worth it. Stay safe...and go get some information and try to understand why your parents are being so strict.

Traditionalist: VERY WELL SAID!!!  :-)

Answer 9

notice those who are disagreeing are mostly teenagers who dont want them used on THEM......im a parent, and yes if you are going to allow your child online there needs to be protection. or you need to be over their shoulder at all times,  maybe  not by age 17  but younger teens definitely need monitored.

Answer 10

no i think that it is an invasion of privacy. clearly you do not trust your child if you are using it. talk to them instead about the internet and things that are not appropriate.  

Answer 11

I agree with it from ages of 13-out of my house

Answer 12

I dont agree with it, if your mom does use it use it up to like 10.

my mom never used it either.

Answer 13

i was time-limited, and the time-limits only made it worse. i would use it all the time i had. lol now i'm free and i use it less often. my mom doesn't get it but i gave her a huge speech on it one day and she gave it up. hope this helped. and tell your mom that if you're limited, you're only going to use it more, wheras if you're not limited, you'll have time to go do other stuff and not need to use the comuter when you can, instead you can go off and know that you'll be able to do whatever you need to do plus not feel any pressure. and if you're 17, yeah i think your mom need to let you grow up a little bit and give you more freedom. im 13 and my mom's starting to come around.  and as for the message reading? either tell her it's a total invasion of privacy and that you would really like her to stop beacause some of that stuff is presonal, or have some fun with it. tell your friend you're planning to get a tatoo for beacause your oler bf wants you to get one, a skull maybe? lol and see what she says. maybe then she'll learn to stay out. hope this helped and good luck!

Answer 14

No! It is my business what I do and do not do on my computer. My parents do not even pay for the internet. Parents are so ******* paranoid now adays. Making their kids delete their myspaces because the big bad pedophile will go and eat them-- get real. There is absolutely no case of a s*x offender seeing one picture of someone, then tracking them through the computer. If you raised your kids and gave them more than half a brain you should trust them not to talk to perverts.

You have to TALK TO THEM and agree to meet them. People dont realize that the kids that get murdered were having sexual conversations and agreeing to meet these people in the first place. Your sweet innocent little Sarah didn't just get raped and killed because she put her picture on myspace. She got murdered cause she took one of her **** and sent  it to a thirty-year-old pervert and agreed to meet him in the woods.

Trust your children. We aren't all ******* idiots.

Answer 15

Personally I can see why parents put that on there.  No matter how closely you watch their child, they can end up someplace they don't need to go.  And with the large amount of Internet predators these days that smooth talk kids and teens and then kidnap them or worse, I can see why parents put parental control software on there.

My mom did, but she set it so high we couldn't even get on Google some days.  Not only that but the software killed our computer.

If you have such an issue with that when you're 17 and your mom is doing it, I don't know what you'll be like when you get a real job and can't access much of anything because of the blocks your work will have up there.  This is about as close as I can get here at my job.  I can't even get on youtube, but hey it makes me work.

EDIT:  Yahoo Messenger is like the worst iming software there is.  Think about it, anyone can contact you.  I used to have Yahoo to talk to friends who were overseas, and I can't even tell you how many times some perv imed me wanting to know if I wanted to watch him jack off.  Not to mention when I turned my webcam on to talk to friends and for them to see me (trust me, 1 year overseas fighting and the webcam is your new best friend...you do forget people's faces after awhile), and then I get all these guys iming me wanting me to do stuff on my webcam so they can jack off!

I switched over to MSN and AIM.  Much much safer.  And not as many pervs.  Thank God.

Answer 16

Parental controls are fine.

I guess its because they just want to protect you.

But they paid for the computer (I'm assuming) so they can put what they want on it.

Time limited...I think as long as you're responsible with it, you shouldn't be time limited.

And your mother SHOULD NOT have access to your yahoo messaging.  That like opening someone's mail.  Those are private conversations.  She needs to understand that.

Answer 17

yes i do and i would use it till my child is out of the house but i wouldnt block all the site just p**n site and such like that for when their older.