step son looking at porn

[lynne361]

hi,
i dont know if this is the right place but...
my stepson who recently moved in with us has started looking at porn websites,i know because i was cleaning my computer up and there were loads of porn websites there.
he is only 13,i am wondering if there is a way to put a block on porn on my PC?
i am using windows xp.
any help would be appreciated.
thank you
lynnne
x

[Spider]

Personally I think 13 and curious is normal. Blocking the computer will prevent him from
surfing porn but it will not stop the curiosity of a 13 year old boy. He will seek to satisfy
his curiosity elsewhere. I'd rather have a 13 year old at home feeling comfortable about
surfing porn that feeling there is a no-nude-women rule hovering over his curiosity.

That said...
http://www.netnanny.com

Most parents rely on Net Nanny. Time proven and well worth the money.

[Ned Seagoon]

I would go along with that as far as nudes are concerned, but many porn sites have far worse and a 13 year old could be damaged by what is available on some sites.

You could put the offending sites into a hosts file or you could get some anti-porn software such as TuEagles (http://www.tueagles.com/anti-porn/), NetNanny (http://www.net-nanny-software.com/) or CyberPatrol (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/).

If you need help setting up a hosts file, please ask. BF

[lynne361]

thank you both for your replys,all this teenage stuff is new to me..thank you

[uripyores]

I agree with the others but is it possible that these sites have appeared for reasons other than his fault. I had loads of them come up on a computer I had once for no apparent reason and without any invitation by me [honest]. Does your step-son go on any file sharing sites, I've seen it happen with some Kazaa-like programmes before too.:eek:

[lynne361]

not file sharing,but he is on MSN an awfull lott

[TJolly]

Hi lynne361

Aswell as the above it wouldn't be a bad idea to speak with him in a caring and friendly manner.

[lynne361]

i am going to speak to him tonight(well my husband is)i dont think i could do it.lol
thanks for the info,i am now looking through the nanny thing u sent me.
thanks again

[darth2]

Looking at Playboy at 13 is pretty normal. But the stuff one can see on the net makes grown men and women cringe. If you can think of any unnatural sex act, believe me, you ain't seen nothing yet. Talking to him is a great idea but if he is that interested, if he doesn't get it there, one of his friends will gladly share their online hookup.

I wish this kind of porn was still only at dirty book stores for sale instead of streaming video of anything and everything for anyone to get, either by acident or on purpose.

Good luck. Just the word teenager makes me cringe.:michaelan

[smurfy]

I've had similar experience recently with my 12yr old.
As said above, it's normal if it doesn't get out of hand.
Trouble is with the internet, it can easily get out of hand.

I just sat my son down and pulled up some of his browser cache and told him that everything he did on his PC while it was connected to the internet through my network was visible to me (in the same way that the school has control over him at school or an employer has control over my browsing at work).
Now, unless you are savvy, that can be a dangerous ploy because some 13yr olds are smarter than mine are and would start covering their tracks and I'd have to do something a bit smarter on my server :(
I told him that IF I suspected he was overdoing it I would bring up his history and restrict his access and told him to be sensible.

Since then I've moved his PC out to the living room anyway (for unrelated resons) so it's a moot point at the moment.

That said, kids browsing game cheat and software hack sites will get numerous p0rn0 hits without intending to do so, so be careful that the history you are looking at is genuine hits. Of course bookmarked sites are normally intentional (but not always). If he protests his innocence, check the PC for hi-jackings.