My Kid

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haggggler

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So my boy is now 15 and starting to test his limits. He most recently was asked to leave school for a combination of sensitive posts on social networking sites, piercing his lip/nose and coloring his hair red (he was at a very conservative performing arts school). A two week suspension had just ended and this all took place in the three days following. He's going to finish out the year with a cyber school, but I need a simple way to allow him to do school work and not Facebook. I've tried simply blocking some sites at the router (DD-WRT) but now he's moved on to the million sites that host games like Tetris. I can't block them all.

The key here is simple and inexpensive, his schooling has left us in quite a bit of debt. What have other [H] parents done?
 
Personally, I'd hotglue the CAT5 cable to the NIC and install a second router using an allowed list instead of using a block list, It will only allow the sites you specify.

modem to your Router (allows all except what you block) to his router (only connects to the sites you allow)
 
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The problem with white/black lists are that some of the sites will be random e.g. he uses Google to search for current issues in order to write a papers etc.

Thanks guys... currently reading up on the free OpenDNS features.
 
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Do you have an old computer you can put something like pfSense on and use squid + dansguardian or something like that? That would be what I would do (but I already run pfSense anyways).
 
I would also recommend an old pc and something like untangle, even the free version can be effective.
 
Look into K9 Webfilter. It's free. The question will be, does he have admin rights to his PC?

http://www1.k9webprotection.com/

This is what I use to filter sites. I mainly want to prevent my kids from misspelling something and end up seeing porn.

Good Luck.
 
Get a Palo Alto PA-200 with URL filtering and some security package. Lock it down. Put it in a locked cabinet behind a locked door. Make sure he can't tether to a cell device.
 
You can't fix behavior with technology.

^^^ This ^^^
Sounds like you're trying to fix a bad parenting problem 15 years in the making with technology. I'd suggest getting him new parents or if that is not practical learn how to become a better parent and teach your son about respect and limits.
 
^^^ This ^^^
Sounds like you're trying to fix a bad parenting problem 15 years in the making with technology. I'd suggest getting him new parents or if that is not practical learn how to become a better parent and teach your son about respect and limits.
Is that some sort of Service Pack? It seems most people are still running the outdated version with the "insolent prick" bug.
 
@ SkittlesMcduck - AVG bought bSecure a while back, it's now AVG Family Safety. I'm not opposed to spending money on a solution and $50 annual for 3 licenses isn't bad at all. The only issue with this type of solution is it doesn't work on the iPad etc...

@extide - pfSence is a little more entailed than I want to get into for now. Ran it a few years back after Untangle screwed the pooch starting with Ver 7. But a little more than I want for this need.

@ashman - See above. I used Untangle (paid even) from ver 4 -7). I liked it but to truly filter what I need I'd have to pay them a steep price for home use. Greedy buggers need to offer a cheaper solution for home.

@Burnout01 - Thats what my teachers called me in high school...lol. This has the same problem as Bsecure, software based on the actual device.

@lizardking009 - Just because I can afford to send him to a private school doesn't mean I have money falling out of my....lol. Honestly, after tuition/room/board, his schooling cost us more than we took home.

@jjeff1 - True, but I can make it so difficult he'll look elsewhere.

OpenDNS is looking good. I'm all signed up and configured, just need to go home to authoize the IP as mine.

Keep the ideas coming and I'll report back how this is going along.

From a stressed out father, than you all.
 
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Is that some sort of Service Pack? It seems most people are still running the outdated version with the "insolent prick" bug.

It's the "Backhand" service pack. It eems to have been recalled in the late 80s and is starting to reappear.
 
You can also set up keyword filtering in DD-WRT.

Way easier than blocking every single site you do not want him visiting.
 
^^^ This ^^^
Sounds like you're trying to fix a bad parenting problem 15 years in the making with technology. I'd suggest getting him new parents or if that is not practical learn how to become a better parent and teach your son about respect and limits.

This. FFS @ OP. If this were my kid, he wouldn't have a *&%@ing computer at this point.
 
This. FFS @ OP. If this were my kid, he wouldn't have a *&%@ing computer at this point.

Not This. FFS@ Poster. Stick to the fuckin question he asked and stop trying to give parenting advice on a tech forum.

Though at the same time, if he didnt want comments he shouldnt have disclosed his parenting fails.
 
Get a lawyer & sue the school for invasion of privacy & violating his first amendment rights. As far as blocking things, what they said.
 
Ban the computer entirely, and make your kid go into school early to type assignments on the library computers.
 
Get a lawyer & sue the school for invasion of privacy & violating his first amendment rights. As far as blocking things, what they said.

Why? There are too many lawsuits as it is. And without knowing more about the nature of the social networking posts/scenario, recommending legal action is a bit over-the-top. By definition posts in the public space are fair game.
 
So my boy is now 15 and starting to test his limits. He most recently was asked to leave school for a combination of sensitive posts on social networking sites, piercing his lip/nose and coloring his hair red (he was at a very conservative performing arts school). A two week suspension had just ended and this all took place in the three days following. He's going to finish out the year with a cyber school, but I need a simple way to allow him to do school work and not Facebook. I've tried simply blocking some sites at the router (DD-WRT) but now he's moved on to the million sites that host games like Tetris. I can't block them all.

The key here is simple and inexpensive, his schooling has left us in quite a bit of debt. What have other [H] parents done?

If your child walked all over you before and disobeying your authority, some kind of access control or content filtering measures will only work temporarily until he finds ways around them.

Try good ol' fashioned tough love.
 
@ Nicklebon AND Xinmosni - Your advice fails to address the question and completely disregards the facts or lack there of. You two wouldn't happen to belong to the Tea Party would you? Now, concerning your inability to comprehend that there might be a school for the preforming arts that takes study seriously, ever heard of a school named Juilliard? This behavior is new, 3 weeks, so more likely this is a result of something else new. Smart-ass delinquents rarely have the work ethic to even get an audition. Could I do better as a parent, we all could, but a 15 year parenting fail I doubt? Finally, try reading the post, he needs a computer for home school.

@ Innocence and the rest of you pricks with the service pack jokes, Thanks, I needed the laugh and the humor was "a parent"....

Tried out OpenDNS last night and had a hell of a time. It would work, then it wouldn't, then it would. I finally figured out that my ISP has proxy caching setup with a 3 day retention. WTF. I got it all working and it seems like this might solve my problem. I will need to setup a second router, thanks notarat, because the wife is a news editor and needs more access than OpenDNS affords. It's the primary reason keyword filters weren't working for us, though the second router solves that issue too.

Thank you all for the help, it's greatly appreciated.

As a side note I'd like you all to know that he's having a great time digging holes in the back yard, he just can't figure out why the holes are always in the wrong spot. Dig. Fill, Repeat.
 
@ Nicklebon AND Xinmosni - Your advice fails to address the question and completely disregards the facts or lack there of. You two wouldn't happen to belong to the Tea Party would you? Now, concerning your inability to comprehend that there might be a school for the preforming arts that takes study seriously, ever heard of a school named Juilliard? This behavior is new, 3 weeks, so more likely this is a result of something else new. Smart-ass delinquents rarely have the work ethic to even get an audition. Could I do better as a parent, we all could, but a 15 year parenting fail I doubt? Finally, try reading the post, he needs a computer for home school.

@ Innocence and the rest of you pricks with the service pack jokes, Thanks, I needed the laugh and the humor was "a parent"....

.

pwnd...

far too often when the mention of kids come up people start trying to give parenting advice rather than minding their own business and simply answering the question in the context it was asked. want to give parenting advice, goto GenMay, or better yet goto a parenting forum.
 
Wow dude. This is a guys home. OpenDNS is what I'd go with. Good luck.

So? This is the Hardforum. There are a lot of setups here that aren't typically found in a home. I gave him one of the best solutions for controlling his Internet access and protecting his network for whatever stupid thing his teenager might get into.
 
So? This is the Hardforum. There are a lot of setups here that aren't typically found in a home. I gave him one of the best solutions for controlling his Internet access and protecting his network for whatever stupid thing his teenager might get into.

I suppose. That would be pretty [H}ard. :D
 
I think you've figured this out already, but if the computer is looking straight at your ISP for DNS queries, you need to fix that by putting in a router or DNS server. Then have that device point to OpenDNS, and the computer point to that device for DNS.

 



LMAO ... only if you believe that drivel about Juilliard, which is a college and only offers a pre-college enrichment program on Saturdays. The kid didn't, in 3 weeks, go from being a good kid to getting suspended for 2 weeks, getting expelled 3 days later, to only having the option of cyber school.

The OP is one who brought up the kid. If the OP didn't want his parenting skills criticized then the OP could have posed his question without mentioning his failures. This isn't the first thread on web filtering to take place here.
 
I'd go with one of the suggestions, OpenDNS is probably the simplest, and make sure the equipment involved is in a locked cabinet or room and that it cannot be bypassed.

Ex: if you go with OpenDNS, make sure DNS port is blocked outgoing, except for the open DNS IPs. If you go with something proxy based, make sure port 80, 443, 8080 and other common http/proxy ports are blocked outgoing, and only can connect to the local box etc....

In fact just to cover more bases block everything outgoing except for stuff that's required. When he's behaving, open up more ports such as game related ports. If he disobeys you then block the unneeded ports.

I would not depend 100% on the technology to discipline him though, talk to him about how he needs to smarten up etc but that's a whole different topic.
 
LMAO ... only if you believe that drivel about Juilliard, which is a college and only offers a pre-college enrichment program on Saturdays. The kid didn't, in 3 weeks, go from being a good kid to getting suspended for 2 weeks, getting expelled 3 days later, to only having the option of cyber school.

The OP is one who brought up the kid. If the OP didn't want his parenting skills criticized then the OP could have posed his question without mentioning his failures. This isn't the first thread on web filtering to take place here.

Again, you fail to address the question and simply fill in any facts you feel are needed to make your conclusion viable. Do you work for Fox News? Try re-reading my post, he was asked to leave not expelled. The school felt he wasn't representing them in a fashion they were comfortable with. Your progression from suspended>expelled>only cyber school reminds me of a fellow named Glen Beck. Wait, your both men and you both live in the US, right? Is the Glen Beck?

Concerning Juilliard, I never said he attended there, the community is small and I was attempting to give you an example you might know without using his specifics. The movies Fame and Flash Dance are Hollywood drivel and do not reflect real instruction, if you want to understand a little of what these kids go through try watching First Position. By the way, that would be the correct usage of the word drivel and Juilliard also offers summer intensives.

The schools serious performers attend leave little time for anything other than training, i.e. cyber school is used at most of these institution for just that reason. It's not his only option, he's finishing what he started. As far as other schools that offer this kind of training:

The Rock School
Kirov Academy
The School of American Ballet
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre

Though you misused the word drivel, I will give you credit for spelling Juilliard correctly. Now, yell up from the basement and tell your parents you need a good beating for becoming a self righteous ass.

To the rest of you, thanks for all the help. OpenDNS, two routers, blocking port 53 and two public IP addresses seem to have it working with little family inconvenience.

Mods, I've got my answer. Please lock the thread so Glen can't get off topic again.
 
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