Well this topic is questionable . I take care of my sister which is 8 years younger than me and she spends hours and hours on pc. Every time i enter in her room she hides and opens other windows and i never see what she is doing on the computer. Recently i downloaded All-Spy Keylogger but i did not install it on her computer yet. I still can't do this but on the other side i need to know why is she spending so much time on the computer. So i guess that installing a keylogger depends on each person in part and on the reason why she took in consideration this aspect.

It is interesting to see that this discussion began 2 years ago and restarted by a teen just now. As a teacher it has been my experience over the past decade that parents for the most part are clueless about their students computer, internet, and cell phone usage. Parents need to be educated because they are the "responsible party". It is important that parents guide the students and know exactly what is in their profiles. Students are often bullied as well as solicited on the social networks and since they are so impressionable (from childhood until age 25 or so), it is often not acceptable for teens to make their own decisions regarding internet safety. Teens who think parents are policing them, often do not have good relationships and/or communication with their parents. This leads to rebellion and students do not make rational decisions when they are rebelling(I know I was one who was rebellious). On the other hand, teens should have a certain amount of freedom, but it should be guided freedom and parent knowledge of profiles is essential to their childrens' safety.

Oh come on, people. Put yourself in a kids shoes. Would you like people snooping around your thing who have no buisiness doing so (Patriot Act anyone?)? I know I wouldn't, and neither would you. For heaven's sake, just teach your kids common sense. Someone on here once told me that people are always attracted to the forbidden fruit. But not if it involves being killed.

never.

Larry,

I believe that if trust is a concern among parents (which in most cases it is) they should let them know they will be monitoring them. By telling them about it, the trust issue should not be an issue, as you have already told them you will be monitoring them. I am fairly certain that some children may not be happy with that, but there are many things that parents do for the well being of their child that kid’s may not be happy about, but trust should not be an interference.

Of course, I would not recommend that you just say “hey I am going to monitor your computer activity” and leave it at that. That of course may present a problem with regards to trust.

I would explain the reasons that you may feel it is necessary to monitor activity. Letting them know that you are looking out for their safety and while you trust them to make the right decisions, there are complete strangers out there that you, nor your child knows and that there is no telling what they may or may not be up to. While I believe that most kid’s have enough “online smarts” to know when something strange is happening, there are some kids that may not be able to pick up on the warning signs that someone may be manipulating a situation to take advantage of it.

Also by telling them that you will be monitoring the computer activity there may be a small risk that your child may want to circumvent the software that you are using. This is something to consider as well, because if they are able to circumvent it, they would essentially be capable of disabling the software.

I can not speak for other software vendors as that is not my place, but I can say that with the software company I work for (SpectorSoft), all of our software has stealth technology that is tamper proof and may only be accessed with a user defined hotkey combination and password. There is no file or folder they can look for to identify the software. They may even press ctrl alt delete and it would not be listed as a running program. Simply put, once it is installed, there is minimal risk that someone can tamper with the settings or recordings.

While most of my posts do not have a link attached to them, I would like to include a link to our website for parents that may have interest to learn more http://www.spectorsoft.com .

Regards,
Michael Goldberg

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Edited by Michael Goldberg at 07/24/2006 2:27 AM

Thanks for the question, Larry.

I have been doing a lot of reading on Internet Safety this past week and it really seems like the best way to protect our kids is to get involved and communicate with them. My kids are just now showing an interest in things like "Myspace" so I plan to work through some of the Internet Safety games with them. I want to build trust between us.

Yes, I think we should tell them we are monitoring their on-line activity.

Hi There,

I am a high school teacher. I believe kids are exposed to so much information on-line they have become desensitised to things that my generation finds offensive. Maybe some material does not have the same effect on them as it does on me, but that doesn't make it any less worrisome.

The Internet needs to be monitored. Parents are responsible to be parents not friends to their children. Earn your kids' respect by protecting them. I think kids are begging for guidelines and rules. Monitor, monitor, monitor!

This is just one opinion.

Sincerely, MJ