Say you were a guardian or parent and get to decide when a child can get a phone or use a computer and get internet with it. If you wish you can also install software and change router settings to what you see fit.
Some parents decide to forbid the internet completely, others are more relaxed. Some go the helicopter route, and some do not care whatsoever what their kid does online.
What is your policy on letting a child use the internet?
The internet is for communication. A child has no reason to communicate with anyone independent of their parent. No internet.
dude where you do hang your iron crosses?
Wow, such a substantive argument. /s
this is just an extremely fascist take
So you say, and yet not any hint of how.
so like half the people here (who are apart of the lgbtq community) would be dead without a way to communicate to others outside of “gay”-hating families
‘Killing people is bad and we should generally have rules against it.’
‘But what if I need to defend myself?’
Do you think that limited circumstance warrant throwing away the rule? Or maybe, just maybe, we stick to the general as a general rule but excuse violations of the rule where it seems reasonable? The vast majority of kids are not endangered by queerness, and those that are should be helped, but the answer to a few kids needing help is not to open the floodgates on everyone else. Computers are great tools but the modern internet is no place for an unaccompanied child. It’s probably not even good for adults, but adults can at least pretend to give informed consent in a way kids cannot.
“children communicating to others that are not their parents is bad and we should generally have rules against it”
“dude WHAT”
hey, we got a word for that, its called MURDER ban MURDER not kiilling
and do you have ANY IDEA how big the internet is?
youtube and those slopsites make up less than 0.0001% of it
“the internet” is like saying “the universe”
Electronics are for amusement. If he isn’t having fun (fussing), time to do something else.
We use it together and communicate during. Zombie mode --> time to do something else.
Great firewall of my house (whitelist). I’m sure he’ll figure out how to bypass it one day, and hopefully by then I’ve raised him well enough to process the horrors of the open web.
PLEASE abandon this mindset
“electronics” are more than toys
Please don’t shout 😢
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I wouldn’t allow them to have a phone at all until they’re around 12 to 14 (just like my parents). When it comes to the internet on a computer, the same thing would apply, but they can when supervised. If possible, their only web browser on their internet device will have uBlock Origin installed with custom block lists to prevent them from accessing websites they aren’t supposed to. I would also like software (whether I’d have to program it if it doesn’t exist or not) to prevent them from using their devices at bedtime. Not a father, but those are the basics of what I’d imagine I do. Expect one last thing: Roblox is completely out of the question. I don’t care how much they beg. It’s a predator nightmare so it would be completely banned
As someone whose parents attempted to deny technology, this is an excellent way to make sure that your kid has a secret life that you know nothing about, can’t influence at all, and you’ll be the last person they come for help to if needed.
This is unfortunately true. Despite having an IT admin as a dad, it only taught me how to more effectively circumvent censorship. I went as far as using the 3DS browser to access stuff I wasn’t supposed to
Mine were more hardware-oriented, so I had to learn soldering early on to get replacements for all the cables they were withholding (terrible firehazard now that I remember it), but there was no opportunity for me to learn safety when it came to online, and boy was I close from falling into some unpleasant rabitholes.
Limited time and very limited access to content, only content that is age appropriate.
Use the device’s parental controls to limit apps, downloading, purchases, sites, hours available and total time allowed. Doesn’t matter if it’s a phone, tablet, or PC. LAN parental controls if available as a secondary layer of site blocking and overall internet blocking at internet curfew time.
Been doing this for years. It’s a must. Parents are responsible for limits on mobile devices and content. Having the software do the limits is far, far easier than physically demanding the phone from the kid, shutting it off, or looking over their shoulder to see what they’re using it for.
When they figure it out and become capable of reading and writing. Tablets, phones and computers are not locked down. Parental guidening and open communication means they know what it is, that there’s good and there’s bad content and people etc.
Working great.
/Swedish
Similar mentality here.
I’ve got some basic parental controls in place. They are intended at emergency buffers, rather than to stop a concerted effort however.
The best method is to teach and train. No security is going to be invincible, without being very problematic to work within. Children also learn fast, when motivated.
I like this
Same.
🎵The internet is for porn🎶
And not at all for kids. No internet at all until like, 13. And then, with all the safety barriers possible. Before that age, maybe some online gaming (not roblox, just Minecraft) with friends.
Computers don’t need the internet to be an enriching tool. Anyone remember reader rabbit? Encarta? The maze game? Time riders? Oregon trail? Age of empires? I learned so much using offline software.
🎵 So grab your dick and double click for porn, porn, porn 🎶
you lot REALLY take after your boomer parents
Why minecraft over Roblox?
Minecraft is more centered on building whereas Roblox is a host site for many different types of games. Minecraft is a bit better for encouraging creativity.
Cool thanks, my oldest is just getting to the point where he can play computer games (physically) and those are the two he talks about watching videos of with his friends.
Minecraft is far superior. I still play it sometimes. The only adults who play roblox are pedos. Minecraft you host yourself so you have control over it.
Roblox has A LOT of pedophiles and child predators/abusers that groom kids. Like a lot, one of the worst on the internet. It has been brought to the company’s attention thousands of times and they outright say they don’t care.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5pK1OGOENw
Not only that, roblox doubled down on supporting pedophiles and actively bans “vigilantes” that try to unmask them or report them to authorities. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5PTomkX1gU
No internet.
I’m normally very progressive, but I think we’ve collected enough data to know for sure that the internet has no good outcomes on children’s development. Furthermore, I don’t want devices spying on children, so any device that eventually connects to the internet is also a nono unless it’s been given an open source operating system and software or completely lacks the ability to record video, audio, or scan for additional devices.
Start educating them on what internet is and how it works early, before they even get to use it. Allow them to observe how you use it. Explain the good and the bad it can provide. I feel like a lot of how you should use the internet is just how you should generally live your life - stranger = danger, don’t give your personal information to anyone at all (even if they claim to be me/my friend/police/whatever), understand how content engagement works and who benefits from it (ads and manipulation are everywhere, not just online), and so on. Ngl I’m kinda baffled how we navigated a much more dangerous real world “just fine” up until the internet has apparently become some unfathomable evil. By not allowing your kids to learn early, you are just gimping their future, they will have to go up against people who often literally don’t know a life without the digital world. Not to mention - if you don’t teach them the basics of understanding how to navigate the world and its dangers, they can get hurt whether the internet still even exists.
My one opinion that might be controversial is that I believe that by enforcing arbitrary blocklists (outside of just generally useful stuff like uBlock Origin) and restricting content without explaining and demonstrating anything you are simply conditioning your kids to be ok with surveillance and censorship.
kids get YouTube for 15 minutes a week.
everything else comes from Plex which has been vetted by myself or my spouse.
no internet access other than a school sanctioned chomebook.
I have a windows XP (sp3) system setup with encarta, local Wikipedia, and a bunch of other early learning computer software/games. it connects to the network for intranet, but no internet access at all.
get them debian instead of windows xp please
why?
less vulnerable and less corporatey
not connected to the internet and xp is far from “corporate” these days.
I daily debian, I’ll teach them about Linux when they show interest. for now they’re kids and are more concerned that the PC laughs like sponge bob over the nuances of corporate security.
The kids devices have their wifi shut off at 11 pm each week day night. From time to time I will have them show me their screen time history and their Youtube watch history.
The WiFi policy seems good. But the invasion of privacy will only alienate you from your kids because you show them you don’t trust them. (You shouldn’t! But you shouldn’t let them know that.)
I watched some dank ass horror shit when the internet was young. Tub girl, one guy one jar, beheadings, all that kinda shit. I was just a teenager. I’m a highly functioning member of society. Good work, good pay, wonderful family. You teach your kids what’s right and what’s wrong and they’ll go by that. But you gotta LIVE it too. Don’t just preach it. Show them what’s right.
My mother trusted me completely to do the right thing. She shouldn’t have. But kids don’t always do the right thing. But me knowing I had betrayed her trust a few times made me feel awful and I learned that it wasn’t worth it. Doing what’s right is cool, in the end. Kids figure this out if you show them the way.
And if they never learn what’s right, they weren’t going to no matter what you did, because it will have been outside influence that was too great, and that’s just destiny, you could call it. Nothing you could’ve done.
Best of luck to anyone reading this.
Invasion of privacy can be a good teaching moment.
Don’t wait until they’ve embarrassed themselves: take them through their browser history before they’ve even thought about porn. Show them router logs before they include pornhub entries. Show them their tracking history while they were far away from you, out with grandma. Explain that you don’t look at these things, but that this sort of information is available. That if they use their school’s wifi it’s available to their teachers. If they use their friend’s wifi, it’s available to their friend’s dad.
Do it while the information isn’t embarrassing, and they will learn to protect themselves, rather than be upset about your “invasion”.
You can’t make a blanket statement like that. It really depends on the situation.
Our kids’ therapist insist we look at their history. But everyone is up front about it so they know it’s going to happen.This is a very obscured statement. Why does your kids’ therapist insist on this? Very relevant information, if you ask me.
I didn’t really mean for it to be taken as a blanket statement either. You know your kids better. I’m just saying what I believe to be true in normal circumstances.
My kids haven’t had normal circumstances.
A lot of kids don’t.
I would even argue what “normal” even is…
BTW: what are some ways that people can become parents? If your list is longer than one entry, you’re catching on.
Education education education.
Explain how the internet works. Explain companies. Explain evil intent and malicious behavior.
Imo, if you put your child under surveillance that’s not the right way. If bad things happen despite good education, fine, introduce limits and guardrails.
Don’t do things you wouldn’t want for yourself. Be consistent.
Basically, do good parenting.
As much as I hate the idea of exposing kids to the ideologies and mass propaganda of the internet, I hate the idea of incompetent adults even more. Plus, exposure builds resistance to some extent. How are they gonna learn to think for themselves if they haven’t seen a wide range of views? Also, do you want your child to fail out of college the first time they play a video game? Or only start learning to code in their twenties? if ever since they won’t think of a computer that way.
No way, if I was gonna have a brat, the little bastard would be damn competent at everything.
I’d wait until they’re older, 7-8 years of age at least. Then I’d make sure they learn how it functions in some capacity and not just operating it mindlessly.
No social media at all. Heavily curated Youtube, and honestly at the end of the day I’d rather them play outside under supervision than spend all day online. The internet as it is does not go well with developing minds.
I have an 11 year old son. He has neutered Internet that can do normal searches on. An hour budget a day for games. An hour for YouTube. Other than that he can talk to his friends on Discord or text. I check his Discord every now and then. He only talks to his buddies or my gaming buddies.
Access to the Internet is not something that the parents are actually capable of restricting. As soon as one kid in the has a phone, their entire peer group is exposed.
The question isn’t about restriction. It’s about who will be teaching these kids about the Internet. The first kid learns from their parents; every other kid learns (mostly) from other kids.
If your kid is the last in their class to have a phone, everything they know about the Internet they will have learned from their peers. They sure as hell aren’t going to tell you they already know about all the things you’ve been trying to hide from them.
Even so, less is better. Being exposed X hours per week through friends is still better than giving them direct access to a dopamine drip feed for 56+ hours per week (avg for teens in 2025). If they really want it, you can set limited access via a home desktop/tablet and teach the same digital literacy.
A kid doesn’t need a smart phone in the same way that they don’t need their own car. They don’t need to go far distances with bulky items and passengers; they don’t need pocket access to banking apps and Slack. A dumb phone/watch can keep them in contact with anyone they could possibly need to talk to.
