Giving a 10 year old his own laptop

[[GSV]Trig]

Damn it, why would they do that its a great idea...

[Whiternoise]

One option you might want to consider is letting him have the laptop in his room (or wherever), but don't connect it up to the internet. You could make him plug it into the router if he needs to get a website for something important, the router being in plain sight you understand. I'm guessing you probably have WiFi, but no need to tell him that Personally this is the option i'd go down if I was buying a laptop/computer for my children, it shows that you trust him (computer in room = parental brownie points) but also gives you peace of mind.

He can still play games and do his homework on it, etc. but you totally rule out the risk of anything going nasty. Once he's gotten a bit more experienced with it, then you can connect it up wherever he wants.

Be realistic. 10 year olds don't need forums, email accounts or messenger IMO - if I ever have kids they're not getting MSN on my watch until they're at least 13. Flash games and a bit of wikipedia for an assignment is fine, but to be honest he'll be just as well off with some classic games and a copy of MS Encarta (or buy a dvd copy of wikipedia).

Option A: Don't connect it up at all, but that doesn't stop him using the home PC for t'internets
Option B: Connect it up wired only so he's forced to do it while you're around, but of course you still need to go through the filtering route, etc.

Obviously this depends on whether you've told him he can surf the net on it already...


Oh and it's a laptop, for God's sake don't let it out of the house. What you don't want is him taking it to school and, letting aside physical damage for the moment, one of his friends says "look what i found". Which raises an important point, you should probably consider the peer effects as well. If someone at school says "wow, you got a laptop", odds are someone will mention some dodgy site or thing to type into google that is a bit unsavoury. He's 10, so that's what.. year 6-7? Secondary school he is BOUND to come across dodgy stuff sooner or later, no getting round it.

[Fortune117]

I think all kids know by now, If you type 'Big tits' into Google that's what you're bound to get

[bsodmike]

Just pray that the poor lad doesn't find this thread

[Mike Fishcake]

He's got it set up in his room - he's connected to the web, basically he loves playing flash games online, so not connecting it does kinda defeat the object of having it. But like I said, it's filtered like anything, it has been thoroughly tested, plus he knows the rules and EXACTLY what will happen if certain things happen. He's used our main family PC for years anyway.

I know eventually he's going to work out a way around it, but I'll deal with that when it comes to it.

Yes, he needs to be safe, but just as in real life I don't want to wrap him up in cotton wool. TBH most of the time he brings it downstairs anyway.

And yes, that is never, ever, ever leaving the house unless it's us taking it out

(Plus searching for "big tits" will bring up a "this page has been blocked" message, as it does with pretty much any other naughty word)

[golwg]

I wouldn't get him a laptop just yet. I would wait till he is a bit older to be honest.

[Ceefer]

One thing to add to the list of warnings to your son (based on experiences with my 10 year old daughter): if he receives an email with an attachment from a friend, tell him to NOT open the attachment without telling you first.

My daughter received an email from a close school friend that had a very, very, unpleasant pornograhic attachment. The friend was unaware of the seriousness of this - she is just naive. The friend is now only allowed to use her family computer under supervision.

[Moutain]

just take it easy

[Disturbedguy]

Your spam is rather obvious. Please stop.

[Rob_B]

If you wanted to take it a step further have you got any monitoring software? Just so you can check what he's upto. If it's all ok for a bit then no need to check very often?

[golwg]

Are parental controls useless on a pc then?

[usxhe190]

This reminds me of South Park and the espisode "Over Logging".

[oolon]

4. DO NOT put any drinks or food near the computer.

This is good advice for everyone. I wish I had followed it, my laptop got a glass of wine inside the keyboard last weekend. While I managed to get the laptop working, 10% of the keys on the keyboard are dead.

While removing all admin rights might seem like a good idea, its not going to train the kid to be a sysadmin if they can't make any changes, the sooner they learn the better, best they get exposed to a few nasties before they have a credit card than after. I think imaging the machine is a great idea, as it installing a logging proxy on the network.

I would also suggest taking an interest in what they are doing online, so it seems natural for them to talk about it too you. This will make it easier to see when they are hiding something.

Internet hours, your child is going to have a computer probably in their bedroom, you need to turn off the access at night time so they do not tire themselves out staying up all night. Likewise, when it gets to leaving for school time get it to switch off, so they don't procrastinate about leaving, likewise if they are sick they don't get to use the internet while not at school so they don't pull sickies. You could do this by putting a Wi-Fi access point on a cheap timer switch or by a logging proxy. If you still want access why not buy one special for the kids room, but do lock it away.

[Mike Fishcake]

Are parental controls useless on a pc then?

Definitely not useless. 2 months and no problems. Yet Obviously nothing is flawless, but this is a good place to start and certainly worth the investment.

While removing all admin rights might seem like a good idea, its not going to train the kid to be a sysadmin if they can't make any changes, the sooner they learn the better, best they get exposed to a few nasties before they have a credit card than after. I think imaging the machine is a great idea, as it installing a logging proxy on the network.

Train to be a sysadmin? He's 10... I see where you're coming from, but for the time being, it's staying as is, and restrictions will be lifted as he gets older and demonstrates how he can be responsible.

I would also suggest taking an interest in what they are doing online, so it seems natural for them to talk about it too you. This will make it easier to see when they are hiding something.

Internet hours, your child is going to have a computer probably in their bedroom, you need to turn off the access at night time so they do not tire themselves out staying up all night.

likewise if they are sick they don't get to use the internet while not at school so they don't pull sickies.

Agree with all of those.

[murcotipton]

Personally I feel Windows Family Safety gets it just about right, although the kids always feel over censored regardless of what you use......

[momo77735]

Im sure hell find a way around the parental locks given enough time. It was easily done in our school to download games.