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Filtering software for children -- time limits?


happypamama
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I've installed the parental controls and the family safety program for Win 7.  They seem to do the trick, in that they'll limit p*rn and such, to which I want to prevent accidental exposure.  They also will block certain sites.  However, what I need is to allow access for short periods of time.  If I enter the passwords, it's all (meaning they seem to then have access to those sites from then on out) or nothing.  My choice is either block Google completely, for instance, or leave it available all the time.  What I'd like for them to do is to be able to use it for a few minutes if needed for schoolwork, but then not have it just freely available.  Is there software that could do that?  Is there something that will let me, say, make Gmail accessible for ten minutes a day and no more, but allow Google for longer?  I don't mind buying something if it's better than the free options.  I just want to both prevent exposure to garbage and make it harder for them to waste time on the computer.  I can't be everywhere at once, and sometimes they're working up in the office, where it's quiet.

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I use Qustodio for my kids. It's able to track time and also limit sites and put time limit on certain apps. It works across devices, so if my kid uses their login on our Macbook or plays Minecraft on their Kindle Fire, the same rules can apply to all (but don't have to -- your choice.) 

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We have used http://www.timesupkidz.com. Basically you set up a separate log in on your computer. You can set hourly limits and also different limits for each day (such as more time on the weekends). You can also set it to only be available between certain hours. So for example, your child gets one hour of time on the computer from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Once the hour is used up, the computer locks and you have to have the password to log in to the main log in. I'm not sure if I'm explaining it well but it worked very well for us.

 

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  • 1 month later...

Just wanted to bump this to say that I have installed Qustodio, and I am very impressed. I was able to set it up so that the kids do not have Chrome (and thus Google and YouTube) unlimited, time-wise, but they have a small amount available each day for schoolwork or fun. And at the same time, I was able to set it so that they still have internet capability all day, so they can use their Rocksmith program (I can police their use of that easily) and the Amazon music player, which DD likes for listening while she works. The filters look great too; I've tested with and without Qustodio, and it's markedly different. (I typed in "n*ked g*rls," and because of Qustodio, it told me, "No pages/images match that description." DH: "You just won the internet!! LOl!). Really, really like the way it's set up! (I also love that it will tell me what they search for and when and all, although I will use this judiciously. Nice to think that if they DO search for something, they won't find it, but we will get a heads up to bring up a conversation.)

 

I even installed myself as a user so that I can keep tabs on my own internet usage; I can override the controls, but at least it'll stare me in the face.

 

DH also brought up the point that even if WE block undesirable types of sites, we may have other kids in our house with devices. He was concerned about teenage boys and sleepovers and the like. Crud, good point, as you never know. So we also added opendns to our wifi, and I tested it with some terms (before I added Qustodio). Blocked!

 

I also got YouTube, which otherwise evades the blockers (it blocks the hardcore stuff, but there's a lot I don't even want the kids to see or to stumble on accidentally) set to a restricted search. That was a pain, but I feel comfortable that while I can't be in two spots at once, to keep an eye on two computers, we have some good assistance.

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