The wife wants to put some software on the kids PC to track what he's doing.

Anyone here use one called Bark? Or have any other suggestions you like?

I didn’t know such a thing existed until this thread. I cannot imagine being a parent. Hats off to you for being proactive in your job as a parent.

From what I have read, Bark is one of the higher rated programs out there. I think it’s cool that they still offer the kids some privacy while monitoring for specific keywords to alert you. A program like this sure beats the hell out of trying to keep track of what your children are doing by yourself.

I was just searching the web this morning for this same topic.

We're getting the 8 year old a laptop for Christmas, he's been using my work laptop in my office to do schoolwork, and it scares me to death how quickly they can click on random crap and go down rabbit holes on the web. His virtual learning all requires multiple stupid websites that don't work without turning off content monitors. We're trying to get along with the local district's virtual education plan...but it isn't going well. He needs to have a computer in his room doing schoolwork. I don't trust a doughnut with my son, let alone the internet.

Watching for real life examples of stuff people here have actually used.

No trust, eh?
Just put a nanny-cam in their room.

quote:

Originally posted by AKSuperDually:
...and it scares me to death how quickly they can click on random crap and go down rabbit holes on the web.

Sounds like me!

In addition to monitoring tools consider those that can block certain content or specific websites you desire. Sure, a reasonably determined 8-12 year old can work around it but in conjunction with clear rules and some other sort of monitoring you have a more clear ROE that way!

quote:

No trust, eh?

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
No trust, eh?
Just put a nanny-cam in their room.

Every child is different.

My 8 year old struggles with reading... he doesn't know what he is doing. He's easily distracted by shiny, flashy objects...especially if he thinks he shouldn't have them (probably gets that from his mother).

My daughter on the other hand, has had a phone and computer for years. We removed all her restrictions and monitors last year, because she consistently proves herself trustworthy. She's nearly 17, and she has earned some room to operate without constant monitoring. I wonder if my son we even be there by age 25...

Right now my immediate concern for software isn't to report when they are bad...but to filter out the ability to cause harm to the computer, or himself inadvertently.

It's a new world, and they're learning virtually from home. I certainly can't trust schools to get it right.

If any parent thinks they can trust their kid not to be looking at porn or other inappropriate things on the internet you're fooling yourself.

Every parent should have monitoring and blocking software on their kids computers until they are older.

It is easy for a kid to get lured into something on the internet if they are not being supervised.

“Bark” is I think by far the best out there. I will admit that the interface confuses me for some reason. I have something called Qustodio on my daughters ipad but really want to figure Bark out again.

What I did was to put astaro utm, (now sophos utm) on a small pc at my router.

You can set it up to block certain countries , and also to block web sites by category.
It will also enforce google safe browsing, and other.
Can then set it up so access is limited between certain times , and also filter social media like twitter etc.
The advantage is it is at the edge so can't be bypassed by tech savvy kids (unless they crack its password) , and default policy can be block all categories etc.
Set up a policy per kid, and assign all their devices to that policy, so you catch tablets , pc and other.

Best part is free for home use.

quote:

Originally posted by dry-fly:
“Bark” is I think by far the best out there. I will admit that the interface confuses me for some reason. I have something called Qustodio on my daughters ipad but really want to figure Bark out again.

I used qustudio for years on my child phone and android tablet. It was OK. I don't think it was worth the cost. They really didn't keep up to date, and when I loaded it on my sons tablet, he easily bypassed it at age 5.

I'm going to look into Bark. Is it a windows based software? Samsung kids has been great for child tablets.

One of my IT instructors was fairly well versed in a wide range of IT related fields, but with a focus on Security. He has also written a couple cyber security fictional thriller novels.

When we discussed cyber security and the various cyber attacks, not to mention his having two sons, he took a fairly rigorous stance when it came to managing the internet in his home.

Some of his practices were to restrict IP addresses at the firewall and having a list of each of the MAC addresses for each device that connected to the internet and employing a policy for each of the devices. He restricted the days/ times that his kid's devices could connect to the internet, set up blocks to various websites, monitored the website traffic through reports, monitored what devices connected through his firewall, and even periodically scanned the neighborhood connections to see which neighbors were using secure vs non-secure connections...and he absolutely refused to share the network password with anyone outside the family. Even when his kid's friends came over to visit or for sleep overs, absolutely no one outside the family was allowed to connect through his router.

The class I was in was mostly former or current military, mostly young guys in their early to late 20's, and when they heard about how far the instructor went to monitor/ restrict his kid's internet access they laughed and rolled their eyes...but he didn't let that phase him and and explained that, given today's internet threats and the content available, that he was exercising his due diligence as a parent. I gave him a big thumbs up for making the effort and time to be proactive on this issue.

From online predators to hackers, malware, ransomware, ID theft, hacking of computer cameras and mics, malicious file sharing, there are a huge range of attacks available to threat actors, and a big one is online gaming...and it has only gotten worse since people are home and on the computers more often now during the pandemic.

Here is a Norton 360 piece on parental controls:

https://us.norton.com/internet...rental-controls.html

Modern Day Savage has it right.
Exactly how I set up the sophos utm.