[GRLUG] Web filter for kids?

[john-thomas richards]

On Thu, Nov 08, 2007 at 02:10:55PM -0500, Ben Rousch wrote:
> > Yes, sorry... It does really depend on the age of the child. For any kid
> > over 12 I'd say filters are worthless. For younger kids it could be a
> > decent idea but I wouldn't let a 7 year old surf the net by themselves
> > anyway.
> >
> 
> Maybe I'm naive and overly optimistic, but I hope that by age 7 my child
> will have the moral fiber and tech skills to surf the (porn/gore filtered)
> web without my constant supervision. Personally, I think IM will be a bigger
> problem than web surfing.

It is the "accidental" images that concern me.  Last winter, after getting a
Wii and the new Zelda for Christmas, I was looking for a bit of help figuring
out a task in the game.  I - with my son beside me - was reading a Zelda
walkthrough on a popular game site (the name eludes me at this point) when I
scrolled down a bit more to find a picture of a sex act that...well, somebody
please poke out my mind's eye.  Please.  At the time my son was looking at
the television screen so I was able to close the browser before he saw this
image.  Try explaining what those people were doing to a *nine* year old.  I
love elinks.  Safer browsing, especially for kids.  Honestly, though,
browsing the web is little different from watching "Kid Nation" and seeing a
provocative commercial from some adult drama that is on long after the
kiddies are asleep.  I really hate watching a *family show* and seeing a
commercial for Victoria's Secret.  My five-year-old girl does not need to
know Victoria has a secret, yet.
-- 
john-thomas
------
The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the
old ones.
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)