Help stop the porn

[FatCamel]

My in-laws are having this problem with their son. He keeps looking at porn and I am having a hard time finding a good program to block these sites. It seems every time I find one that works he finds some way around it. I don't understand how he must just be determined to... well you know. Do any of you smart people know of any good progs for this?

[Blankfile]

In my own humble opinion, education would work much better than any stopping program. Get his parents to speak to him about it...

Even if you'd lock away the internet connection, if he really wants to get some, he'll just get it at school or somewhere else.

And on top of that, i do not know of any program that would do this ^^.

[PLOBBY]

content filtering software/hardware. Smoothwall box would do this with the right plugins. Have fun blocking proxy sites though...

[FireMogle]

The most effective way to do this is to put a password lock on the computer. If he cant log in he cant look at porn.

[nd4spdbh2]

In my own humble opinion, education would work much better than any stopping program. Get his parents to speak to him about it...

Even if you'd lock away the internet connection, if he really wants to get some, he'll just get it at school or somewhere else.

And on top of that, i do not know of any program that would do this ^^.

ima agree going this route would probably be the best way... imean there is like private time, but if he is doing things blatently then he needs to be edumacated

[Albaholic]

content filtering software/hardware. Smoothwall box would do this with the right plugins. Have fun blocking proxy sites though...


I was going to suggest squidguard but it sounds like you want something normal people would be able to use without any additional hardware requirements. With that in mind I think talking to the kid would be easier and implementing a history monitoring application (because he's probably going to do it anyway)

[FatCamel]

His parents are really Christian people and don't want this mess in their house.
They tried to talk to him and as I thought it didn't work, it didn't work for me either when I was a kid, that was near the top of the list of favorite activities. What do you think is the best free filtering tool?

[Tyranos]

Set up the router for access only during certain times of day for certain computers. Make sure his "on" time is when everyone is up and about and don't let him access it in private.

Barbed wire beatings worked for me.

[FatCamel]

Barbed wire may not be such a bad idea I might tell them to try it:santa:

[lowlypawn]

I believe the only solution is to have the computer in a public area where the parents can monitor what he is looking at. And then simply disable the computer when they are not home. Password, take the power cord for the modem ETC. Finding a program to do their job for them rarely works.

[curtis1552]

I agree with the password protection, lock him out. Filters don't work properly and are annoying as heck when you're working on something legitimate. Don't use the IE content filtering, it's easy to by-pass.

Don't let him have his own computer.

Keep it public.

These all help, nut nothing is foolproof.

Except turning off his circuit breaker. And have a BIOS boot password.

[Moto7451]

Baseball/Football league and a girlfriend (assuming they allow for the latter and is "old enough"). Either way, giving a kid something constructive to do, often times will lower the occurrence of this. Also girls are way more fun than websites. Putting him in situations where there are lots of, single, celabic girls that want a boyfriend (church groups, etc) would probably help more than a software program he can get around with a linux live CD or proxy.

But foregoing that, if they want a low effort "fix all" (not the method I would take since it does nothing for his built up pubescent frustrations), BeSafe (http://www.bsafehome.com/) is rather good. Yes, it's about as neurotic of a solution as you can get, but it does censor out most porn at the cost of some (not very many) legitimate sites. Yahoo.com is the only major one that had to have an exception made for it at work.

[Omsion]

I believe the only solution is to have the computer in a public area where the parents can monitor what he is looking at. And then simply disable the computer when they are not home. Password, take the power cord for the modem ETC. Finding a program to do their job for them rarely works.Agreed. Get them to go for this. As long as they're not doing anything iffy, they should be fine with it :p

[Jolly-Swagman]

Originally Posted by lowlypawn View Post
I believe the only solution is to have the computer in a public area where the parents can monitor what he is looking at. And then simply disable the computer when they are not home. Password, take the power cord for the modem ETC. Finding a program to do their job for them rarely works.

Agreed. Get them to go for this. As long as they're not doing anything iffy, they should be fine with it :p

Yes and you could also install at Prog like NetNanny or something like it to block out the offending sites

[Loading...]

Password protect the computer and put the computer right beside the fridge, people are always visiting the fridge. Really any room with no doors and is frequently visited should do the trick.

[imposter]

My dad would most likely beat the computer over my head... But i agree with loading... putting the computer in the most active area will prevent any attempt of this.

[NobodyNowhere]

To be honest ... there is no real way .. if he wants it he can find it now lets make it hard for him .. but whats the point at the end of the day he will have it!

Programs : Proxies are always here ... almost hundreds of new of them every day!

Put the pc in public area : you cant sit in front of the PC 24/7 watching him can ya? he will have his 30mins free ...

Limit the time he can be on the PC to hours parents are in the room : come on ... he will download them when he has the internet and watch them later!

I know for parents its hard to see .. but sometimes ignoring some stuff and pretending you don't see them is better ... for both sides!

EDIT: Not exagtly suggesting to ignore it .. but maybe keep talking to him to lower it and slowly stop it ... putting a lot of pressure on him is not the best idea!

Just my 2cents!
-- NobodyNowhere

[AMD Phreak]

http://dansguardian.org/

[ccb056]

setup the router to use opendns (www.opendns.com)
create an account, and configure opendns to block adult sites, etc

[hkgonra]

I did all this with my kids, then I came to the realization that it made no sense for me to have to fight with dansguardian all the time tweaking it when all I really needed to do was punish them if I caught them.
Popped keyloggers on and check them randomly and let it go from there.

[Ben333]

Install remote monitoring software and tell him. This way they don't know you know they did something bad but they do know that if they do it again you will find out.

[Slimmy]

Just tell the kid one more time and no more computer for life.

Take parts off the computer when not home. "keyboard, mouse, phone cord or more"

Computer in living room with with time of day restrictions on router and password protection on bios.

Personally I like the talk to the child and then install a keylogger to monitor them.

[Ben333]

Personally I like the talk to the child and then install a keylogger to monitor them.
+1

[jmsanders2]

Install an electric shock machine that has to be hooked up to him in order for him to log on. Have it monitor his heartrate and if it goes above X, zap the crap out of him. That way, maybe he'll learn to hate computers and have a more rich life outside (wish my parents did that).

Practically speaking, take the computer rights away the next time he is caught. No other practical way except for what I stated above...

Here's to me hoping for the electric shock therapy! :beer:

[curtis1552]

Is there a program for a computer set up as a router that logs all websites that are accessed?
e.g. I'm connecting through my computer with IPcop and want it to log all the information sent through it.

[Shelnutt2]

setup the router to use opendns (www.opendns.com)
create an account, and configure opendns to block adult sites, etc

Bingo, what I was going to suggest.

[Ben333]

Yeah but that won't work If he asks a friend for the site's IP or simply changes the DNS back. (If he knows his computer stuff)

[ccb056]

you might want to 127.0.0.1 block.opendns.com in your hosts file also, that way he doesnt get the standard opendns blocked this site page, the less information he gets the better (less likely for him to find a workaround if he doesnt know how he's being blocked)

[Enablingwolf]

My input.

Put the machine in a public location. Install the router and modem in a box that locks. Set the router to allow his static IP during certain hours and for a timed period.

In addition set a limited user and content filtering. Informing the young one what is going on and why. Knowledge of having everyone know he is getting busted should be enough to not get caught. You are not going to stop a teen from doing teen things.

Being mean. The son could be under threat of wearing a sign moving the lawn if caught. "I look at porn."

[DorianBrytestar]

imo there is no filter or program out there that is 100%. The public area for the computer and taking the parts while not around is about the best that I think you could do.

Of course, this will just lead to the kid getting a magazine or something like everyone else used to do back in the stone age :)

[Enablingwolf]

The best part to take is the monitor. LCD are pretty portable and simple to detach. Cords and HiD's are easy to scrounge up. The monitor makes a bold statement.

[hkgonra]

Why inconvenience everyone in the house ?
Every time I have tried to use filtering software it ends up blocking things that should not be blocked.
Why not use tracking software and ( now here is a novel idea ) actually punish the kid for doing wrong , you will know you have punished him enough when he quits doing it.

[benbaked]

As others have suggested, place the computer in an open area of the house. Do not let him access the internet unsupervised.

[Cheator]

Why inconvenience everyone in the house ?
Every time I have tried to use filtering software it ends up blocking things that should not be blocked.
Why not use tracking software and ( now here is a novel idea ) actually punish the kid for doing wrong , you will know you have punished him enough when he quits doing it.

Yeah. And film him with a hidden VC then post it on youtube and link it to his friends :). That'll stop him for years!

[FatCamel]

Yeah. And film him with a hidden VC then post it on youtube and link it to his friends :). That'll stop him for years!

I like all the suggestions but I think posting on YouTube is one of my favs so far.
And for the punishment he got the mess beat out of him the other day for this and cursing at his mother. I downloaded a free keylogger program and he was found out. Looking at the file it seemed that is almost all he did after he got home from school. Now he knows he is being monitored and hopefully learned his lesson and get some mags from his buddies at school, mags a little easier to hide from your parents.

[samuknow]

My input.



Being mean. The son could be under threat of wearing a sign moving the lawn if caught. "I look at porn."

That is the kind of think I like. public humiliation. LOL

I also had this issue in my house. One boy has email only now. It is blocked on the router and the router lives in my room. The other son's computer is now on my desk. He is allowed on only when I am there.

This is the only thing that I felt I could do. A kid does not NEED internet access. It is a luxury item that can quickly disappear.

[hkgonra]

A kid does not NEED internet access. It is a luxury item that can quickly disappear.

Have to disagree on that one point. I have 4 kids from 5th thru 10th grade.
They ALL need internet access to do homework assignments/projects at least weekly if not more often.
One of my kids has books that they do work in daily that have to stay at school and their books are available to them online for homework.
There is one private school in my area that has switched completely to laptops. No books at all k-12.

[gangaskan]

you're never going to stop the porn fully :( there are ways (as everyone mentioned) but kids will always find a way to get what they want, i know i did.


for example : in the dial up day's (yea, we had AOL :( ) in order to get on at late hours we, as in me and my next door neighbor, created a secondary login account to get on the net.


my dad never found out but i'm just listing an example of something



well, i take that back, with SonicWall and the content filtering service, you can see what illegal "blocked" sites he goes via a email message (but then again, that costs alot of money for that luxury.)


i dont know if smoothwall does it, but the sonicwall firewall can do just about everything :)

[nvidiaOCmaster]

Make a fake program shortcut on the desktop that is called "pornspy" or "porn tracker" or something of the nature on the desktop so when he sees it he will think twice before looking up porn.

[samuknow]

Have to disagree on that one point. I have 4 kids from 5th thru 10th grade.
They ALL need internet access to do homework assignments/projects at least weekly if not more often.
One of my kids has books that they do work in daily that have to stay at school and their books are available to them online for homework.
There is one private school in my area that has switched completely to laptops. No books at all k-12.

So your telling me that if you refuse to let the internet in your house, they would not be able to complete school work. I know of many people at church that refuse to have the internet.

EDIT...my wife just corrected me. My kids too need the internet to do homework. It seem that the ideal way is to be there with them while they are doing their work.Internet for recreational purposes can still be denied. If the kids can not be trusted with what they are given then it is removed as I did. Maybe I am just a little more black and white....

[FatCamel]

samuknow I like your way of thinking. I would do the same thing if it were my kid but my child isn't old enough to comprehend sex yet so for that I feel blessed and cursed at the same time. There is no telling of whats to come in the future for kids to get a hold of.

[curtis1552]

Kids aren't' stupid.
I evaded my parents for years and just got better at not being caught.
Now i don't see the point, but when I was young it was a thrill.

They will disable keyloggers, bypass filters, and hask passwords.

Catch them and punish them.
I really like the
The son could be under threat of wearing a sign moving the lawn if caught. "I look at porn."
Add the line to the sign: because i can't get the real thing.

(not serious meant as a joke)
Public humiliation can work wonders, but it can also backfire - it dosn't teach them why to not do something, just to not get caught.

You have to be more inventive than the child. If the key logger works thats fine, if not up it one more step.

I still think a BIOS startup password is the best. You can't evade it with a live CD nor hack it in any other way except replacing the BIOS chip.

Just turn the computer off when not in use.



Ask him at dinner if the hot red head on [porno link removed by macklin01] got him off that afternoon.
preferably when one of his friends is over; a girlfriend is preferred.


You know better than this. Consider this your warning. -- macklin01 (Forums moderator)

Apologies on the link, I didn't realize it had been linked, as I meant it as an example not a link.

[ps2cho]

Man let the kid have his porn :beer:

You can't suppress the thoughts...so blocking his access is hardly going to do anything. Just tell him if he really really has to....to not leave anything on the computer that would lead to someone else coming across obscenities.

I can't believe you people are actually recommending to remove the power plug and stuff? He isn't looking at it 24/7...blocking his computer access will cause more problems than good.

[gangaskan]

he will get power cords from friends, other people, hell even buy them if he can to do it after hours.....


kids arent that "dumb" anymore as lots of people mentioned lol. the only thing that would bother me ps2cho is the riddleware that comes with the pron i'm sure he'll pick up a trojan or 2 along the way.

[ErikD]

Lately I have been playing with ClarkConnect. So far I am very impressed, and think it would do what you need. Of course the only downside is that you need a spare computer to run it on. However it has a lot of features that would be really helpful in this type of situation.

My initial reason for testing it out was it included a P2P filter. I installed and tested it out, and it works out of the box. So I started looking at all of the other features. The web proxy and content filter work very well from my initial testing. You can also include a requirement for login, which can give fine grained control over access hours, and access levels.

Now for the big plus - there is really no way around this. Turn it off, no internet. There is no proxy information to enter in the browser, it filters all traffic going through the network. It is a web management interface, so just create a strong password for this (based in Red Hat Linux) and you are set.

[hkgonra]

Since you mentioned Clarkconnect you might want to look at sme server , it is like clarkconnect buy imho it is better.
Then again it is a coke/pepsi argument but just thought you might want to give it a look.

http://www.smeserver.org/

[ccb056]

One way around clark connect could be VPN. If he had one of his buddies setup a VPN server (very easy to do with XP) that might bypass the CLarkConnect filter entirely.

[stev]

The best and nearly bullet proof way is through OpenDNS.org Both of my teenage boys can't even break it to find any porn. See the website on how the FREE service works. Just like OpenOffice and FireFox being free, so is OpenDNS.

UPS, Vanderbilt College, Fujifilm, The Salvation Army, Century 21, and well over 9,000 small businesses use this Open FREE service for hotspots.

Read the testimony of WiFiFREE dealing with OpenDNS. It's for "home", K-12 Schools, small and medium businesses and total enterprise businesses too.

And if anything ever gets leaked through, (very very rare) you can submit the offending site for review and you can add it to your DNS block list in the mean time.

The OpenDNS also allows for custom filtering too!

[AngryArtichoke]

Man let the kid have his porn :beer:

You can't suppress the thoughts...so blocking his access is hardly going to do anything. Just tell him if he really really has to....to not leave anything on the computer that would lead to someone else coming across obscenities.

I can't believe you people are actually recommending to remove the power plug and stuff? He isn't looking at it 24/7...blocking his computer access will cause more problems than good.

I totally agree.

[Dapman02]

While I don't have a solution for you, I will say that I am happy with how this forum is treating this subject.

Is this kid himself a christian? Does he take it seriously? How old is this kid?
I ask this because if he is taking his religion seriously, than he must know that it is as sin to be looking at that stuff.

My favorite suggestion so far was the "I look at porn" sign :clap:

[Enablingwolf]

This thread is so old. The kid is probably has a family of his own by now. :rolleyes:

If the issue hasn't been addressed in a years time. It probably never will.

[Dapman02]

Man let the kid have his porn :beer:

You can't suppress the thoughts...so blocking his access is hardly going to do anything. Just tell him if he really really has to....to not leave anything on the computer that would lead to someone else coming across obscenities.

I can't believe you people are actually recommending to remove the power plug and stuff? He isn't looking at it 24/7...blocking his computer access will cause more problems than good.

The problem with porn is that it messes with a man's perception of a woman. We currently live in a society that accepts and encourages men to always have there mind in the gutter, and personally I won't have anything of it. People also have a different point of view on stuff than you, keep that in mind.

But this isn't a discussion about wheather porn is ok or not, he is simply asking of some way to block it in there house.

Reply to Enabling wolf: wow, I thought this was a new thread it's a year old!

[cw823]

Setup an untangle box between him and the internet, their web filter even blocks the EOC folding@home stats page!

[cw823]

I went ahead and deleted the over-the-line posts in this thread. Also, not sure why you would need to post 3 times in about 20 minutes with no reply!

[technician]

ScrubIT (http://www.scrubit.com) DNS is another alternative to OpenDNS. Enter the DNS information into the router and lock it so only the parents have access.

The way I deny most proxies in my school district is to deny based on specific content (within the HTML). Nearly all web-based proxies are simply one or two scripts that are installed with default settings. This will allow you to blacklist the proxy even when using obfuscated (or encrypted) URLs. Not 100% foolproof but it will help considerably.

I hope the kid comes to grips and learns self-control. It's tough, I think all of us guys have been there (or are still there). You are inundated with porn when browsing the web even on so called "decent" sites. I was playing a game of TF2 the other night and there were loads of young kids playing. Some punk decided to spray porn pictures all over the walls. Have a heart!

[Mr.Guvernment]

for one

make his account a GUEST account on the computer so they can install or change ANYTHING.

then do as many of the other have suggested, router with only certain times allowed online, netnanny, but also how smart is this kid? would he know to get a live cd top reset admin passwords and such?

[ihrsetrdr]

Didn't realize this was such an old post, however the parental concerns over a child's preoccupation with sex are as old as the Human race. It's a tough call, but I have to say this:

1. Put the computer in the living room

2. don't make a big deal out of it, will only exaserbate the problem, and heighten parent/child conflict.

3. Pretty much once someone is into puberty, their mind is "set" and can rarely be changed with outside forces. The kid has to come to terms with his faith and with life, in his own time.

[Jayws]

Just be glad it isn't drugs?

I don't really see the point of blocking porn... any kid who is clever and/or determined enough will find some way of getting what they want, I sure did. My parents took away my computer when I was in 10th grade just before summer vacation because they didn't like how I used it all the time (even though a good portion of that time was constructive). As a result I ended up tracking their sleep patterns and breaking into my father's office to install/use games on his computer at night (oh diablo 2 and starcraft!). I also adjusted my sleep pattern accordingly so that I could game from ~11pm to 4am and sleep from ~5am to noon. As for getting into the office? It had a deadbolt lock on it so I took a ladder from the garage and climbed up to a window in the office on the second floor, took the screen off and pried my way in.

Seriously... the best thing you or any parent can do IMO is try to be as constructive with non-condescending conversation as possible, however religious people tend to be terrible with these types of situations (again, IMO). Watch your child's behavior and intervene with different levels of severity accordingly. Introduce them to sports/hobbies and offer some kind of effective incentive to make sure school work is up to par. You can fight it all you want but if you have a job and your kid has all the time in the world, I don't believe you will keep up with anything short of some type of overwhelming force which will be exhausting for you and oppressing to the kid. :\

[petteyg359]

The vast majority of suggestions are for the classic stereotypical LAZY SUCKY BAD AMERICAN PARENT. You say they don't like him looking at porn because they're Christian. Well, if they're moral in that sense, then they should be moral enough to actually BE PARENTS. They need to do their job as parents. There are two options: either discipline the kid, or accept that he will continue the "undesirable" behavior. Expecting filtering software to do their job as parents for them is rather hypocritical to their stated belief.

[Captain Newbie]

I am sort of surprised nobody has mentioned these yet:
http://www.annemade-jewelry.com/wire_cutters.jpg

The parents should try parenting for a change. Most parents don't.

[aja]

Double post from the Captain?

[gangaskan]

The parents should try parenting for a change. Most parents don't.


so true, some parents are horrible at controlling their children.

[ppe1700]

I am sort of surprised nobody has mentioned these yet:
http://www.annemade-jewelry.com/wire_cutters.jpg

The parents should try parenting for a change. Most parents don't.

i did, but the mod deleted the post! lol

[ppe1700]

Double post from the Captain?

na it was me, cos my train of thought only allows me to think of other things once ive said them.
like just now

[OldSkool]

Old thread is Old....

[petteyg359]

Blame stev (http://www.ocforums.com/member.php?u=31268) for reviving it :)

[ppe1700]

Old thread is Old....

oldskool or just old :rolleyes: :)

[Captain Newbie]

Double post from the Captain?

The tubes were clogged :(

Resolved, fix'd.

[gangaskan]

The tubes were clogged :(

Resolved, fix'd.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/trueneutral/InternetsTubes.jpg


:)


your 2nd post was jumbled up between the lamp and the bag of food!

[cw823]

Sweet, a good reason to close the thread....it's OLD!

[color=lime]THREAD CLOSED[/quote]