Preventing porn downloads on your computer?

[TranscendentalMom]

I have a friend with a teenage son (I'm not there yet, thank God). She discovered that even though she has controls on their computer, he has downloaded porn from Kazaa. Does anyone know how you can prevent this from happening? Since Kazaa is not a browser, you can't seem to control what's looked at. Is there a way to remove the Kazaa program and block it from being returned.

A warning to parents of kids who may have access to this stuff: there is DISTURBING stuff available on Kazaa. All you have to do is type in a search for sex and things like child porn, rapes, and bestiality will pop up.

[annekka]

Hi, I'm a computer analyst so I thought I should respond.

The thing about computers is that if you're knowledgable enough, you can pretty much get around any restrictions someone else might put in place. So if the son knows more about computers than the mom, there's not too much that can be done from the technology side. But here's some tips:

1) In Windows, open the Control Panel and go to "Add/Remove Programs". Kazaa is only one application used to access peer-to-peer file sharing networks; there are many others. Try removing the applications from this interface.

2) Your friend should install a firewall. You can do this either with software or a physical hardware device. The firewall should be set to block port 6346, which is what Kazaa and other peer-to-peer file sharing programs use. You can selectively choose which ports to block, leaving ports open that are used for email, web browsing, etc. and blocking all others. Not only will this prevent peer-to-peer file sharing, but also protect her computer from malicious Interent attacks.

3) With Windows XP, you friend can create an administrative user account for herself and a limited user account for her son. Her son will be able to use all the installed applications but not install applications on his own.

4) Don't waste money on Internet filtering software. It just doesn't work. It blocks plenty of legitimate sites and still lets plenty of porn go through.

I'm sorry to say that if she wants to have an Internet connection, there is no way to absolutely prevent her son from downloading porn if he chooses. I would be interested to hear how parents of teen deal with this. Do you check the Internet cache after your kids browse? Keep the Internet on computers only in common living areas? Or just talk to htem and hope they make good choices?

[Piglet68]

Moving this to the Teen forum. I'm sure many of the people there will appreciate this advice!

[Midnight Mom]

Thanks for moving this here.

That's wonderful info, annekka. Thanks

I will only keep our computer in the living room so dd does not have privacy. She is beginning to ask for a laptop and my reply is "I think not." I feel like a laptop would be a free-for-all for her on the Internet.

[calgal007]

I think a deeper issue might be 1. why he's looking at hard-core porn, versus something like the "Playboy" site, which is more about naked women than bestiality, etc. That's troubling. 2. why does he still have Internet access once the mom discovered he was accessing those sites?

[Miss Kitty]

I have add/subtract loaded on my computer which stopped all of the above.
After I loaded it , i removed the shortcut so no one can disable it but me and dh.

[Lucky Charm]

Do you check the Internet cache after your kids browse? Keep the Internet on computers only in common living areas? Or just talk to htem and hope they make good choices?

Annekka....Thank you so very much for your suggestions. And to answer your question....Yes, i do see where they have been by searching history. I keep the computer in the family room, so although it can be a bit loud when *I* do my homework, i can also see the kids, and when they are on the computer, i know what site they are visiting and whats being said on IM. I do have specific blocks for chat rooms....they give me the creeps.

[applejuice]

Just my two cents worth,...

My son has always been extremely computer savvy.

He installed everything for me when he was 16.

My phone bill had one call at 0:15 Nov. 18 @ $385.15 to the Cook Islands for about twenty minutes. It was a porn site. I made him pay for it, and switched to another server and paid someone else to install it.

My DS is enrolled in computer enginneering in his second year of college, but he stays off my computer now.

[applejuice]

Just my two cents worth,...

My son has always been extremely computer savvy. He knows how to erase the website cache'.

He installed everything for me when he was 16.

My phone bill had one call at 0:15 Nov. 18 @ $385.15 to the Cook Islands for about twenty minutes. It was a porn site. I made him pay for it, and switched to another server and paid someone else to install it.

My DS is enrolled in computer enginneering in his second year of college, but he stays off my computer now.