How do I keep my kids off Google?

Google? I would guess all search engnes would do something simular... I guess you could ask a developer to crreate a desktopx that only goes to specific sites...

Yeah.. It IS all search engines. At least all the most common ones. I was checkin it out last night.

Sounds like a good idea, but I was kinda hoping for something like a setting in Norton Internet Security 2004 or something. I tried to add it to blocked sites in parental control. And I also tried to restrict access to the site system wide. (Both through NIS) Neither works.

You can block any URL with AdMuncher http://www.admuncher.com/ and password protect the config dialog, so only you can bypass the filter.

google and other search sites have built in filters they can be set high or low (most are set to moderate by default)... and pass worded .... i would try that too......

I have my kids at school use Google all the time. I just make sure that I set the filter as high as it can go.

Of course kids will figure out how to set the controls down, so you may have to watch that.

I like the sound of that WK, I think I'll give it a try!!

Cameron is too smart for that..lol, I have to have something with at LEAST a 6 letter/digit password

Same to Jamie.. I know the feeling

i can only think of searching google and finding each individual site and blocking it

That would actually be a good idea...if you had about 40 years of spare time to individually block each one.

Of course kids will figure out how to set the controls down, so you may have to watch that.

Remember, if the kids actually WANT to turn the filters off, and willingly make that change, then you have another problem on your hands.

That would actually be a good idea...if you had about 40 years of spare time to individually block each one.

nope... don't have time for that..

Remember, if the kids actually WANT to turn the filters off, and willingly make that change, then you have another problem on your hands.

I agree with the above comment. If their at school/library doing it then you have a different problem that can't be stopped by anything physical.

I am very sorry if this posted twice..wincustomize was having a runtime error right in the middle of posting..so i hope this message doesnt repeat.

Actually.. AdMuncher seems to be doing the trick. MAN was he pissed! lol Anyway, It allowed me to set limits system wide and THANK YOU for showing me where to get it. AWSEOME! Problem solved.

You're welcome.

The problem you face in regards to keeping porn/abusive/hate sites away from your kids is this. Sites use Meta tags that draw search engines to them, and porn sites know and use this to attract potential customers to they're sites. So the most simple term can often bring up a porn site and there is not much you can do to stop that.

The best thing you can do is educate your kids about the good and bad regarding sex so they have a healthy understanding and respect for it before someone else teaches them the good/bad/ugly.

Ummm your kid is looking for porn on the computer right? (otherwise he wouldn't be pissed). Nothing and I mean NOTHING will stop him from finding it if he wants it. Either you sit and watch him every minute he is on the net or don't allow him to use it. Otherwise you are simply saying that it is too much of a bother to you. It is just that simple. There are ways around ALL "nanny ware" and he will find it.

Yeah... I found out he was doing it to see if I could catch him. Little turd lol. Anyhow, for the most part we are very open with him about things but sometimes it's hard not to worry. I mean, it's kinda harsh to tell me my son "is too much of a bother to you". I can't be around 24-7 watching him on the net. Besides... Isn't that just kids to try to out do their parents?

And yeah, webgizmos, I agree wholeheartedly. I never had anyone to really talk to about anything sexual growing up besides "friends" so I make sure that doesn't happen with me. My brats have no problem whatsoever talking to me about sex, etc. And they all know very well hoe to watch out for themselves. And to my knowlege they are very careful. They tell me EVERYTHING! >Some things I would rather NOT know< lol

You might want to try out Winspy Link . It won't stop him but at least you'll know where he's been.

You actually need a program to raise your kids correctly?

No. I DON'T need a program to do it! See sentence 4 in post #16. Don't you read before you post? If I needed a critique of child raising I woulda went to my mom.

And to the rest of you guys (girls) thank you for you help. I really appreciate it. You few are the reason I come here to talk about computer topics and get help when I need it. KUDOS!

You actually need a program to raise your kids correctly?

YES, YES, YES!!

C'mon Stardock, here's a massive opportunity! Put me down for the beta program right now. What could it be called? ParentX? Desktop Dad [/I?

Ya know Hazylunarrain...when you think back on how most of us were when we were kids...we all did the same thing. We may not have had porn at our fingertips with a PC, but we all found a way. And I think most of us came out of it alright. He could be getting into worse things than porn. Just think of it as a right of passage. Just make sure your there when he falls down so you can pick him back up and dust him off...and he'll turn out just fine

I am quite an open minded person about everything, including erotic pictures (porn is different from erotica). But webgizmos, what WE found a way to get out hands on was (1)quite difficult to get in the first place and (2)nothing like the trash you can see on the Net today involving human wastes, animals, children and violence where there is nothing erotic about.
Yes, I understand his concern, and would my own boys be a little older I would indeed be very concerned as well. I would totally freak out if I saw my son watching some of the picture not too hard to find "out there".
Of course, as a parent, you should talk to your kids, but some things we prefer not to mention. Heck I had no idea about "certain sexual activities" before I was in my early adulthood. Who wants to talk about sexual behaviors involving human wastes with their 10 year old?

I hear ya Paxx...the stuff on the net these days really shows the dregs of society, and most of it shocked the hell out of me. And really the bottomline is, the only way to shield your kids from it is to not have a pc. If I caught my daughter looking at this stuff I would totally freak out (to put it lightly) as well.

Lol. Just wait guys... Wait till their 14 lmao. Naaa, It's not really that bad with him so far. Just "innocent" nudie pics. Nothing you know, far fetched . At any rate, I have since discussed everything with him, and I hope he REALLY understands how I feel about these things and knows that he can come to me with ANY questions ANY time. But yeah, It is still nerve wracking being forced to realized he's not my "baby" anymore (as if,lol)

Well, I guess after all this discussion you'll first try to decide if you want to block sites or not.

If yes, I'd go for the easiest way. Edit your hosts file on your PC. On my win2k box its path is:
C:\WINNT\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
This is a plain ascii file, edit it with your notepad, and add entries like this:

127.0.0.1 www.google.com
127.0.0.1 images.google.com
127.0.0.1 www.yahoo.com

and so on, with whatever sites you fancy to block. This will preceed the DNS lookup, and the browser will fail to find these addresses on your local machine. (I usually block the aggressive ad sites, or used to before swithing from IE to Mozilla Firefox, but that's another story.)

If your kids will find out how to circumvent this, they deserve those boobs.

Disclaimer: this is a trick hint, not my view about the original problem.