Configured correctly , Parental Controls are remarkably effective . But you may desire to do more . Your next steps count on how strict you want to be and how much you trust your children . Beyond talking to them , there are several ways to allow them admittance to the online human race while retaining some mastery .
Keep an Eye Out
Even if you trust your children , you might feel better if you could traverse their activities ( and , even better , if you tell them you ’re doing so ) . Parental Controls ’ log supply some monitoring options , but you’re able to take this even further .
If you and your child have disjoined Macs , you could watch his screen via Leopard ’s Screen Sharing feature . First log on to his Mac as an administrator and switching on Screen Sharing in the Sharing predilection pane . In Allow Access For , select Only These Users , tick on the plus - sign button , and choose Administrators .
To keep , go back to your Mac and , from the Finder , pick out Go : connection . Locate the name of your small fry ’s Mac , establish it , and fall into place on Share Screen . you could now see what he ’s doing on his simple machine — and even control it . Your child can essay to cut you off ( by choosing Disconnect , and then your Mac ’s IP name and address , from the Screen Sharing menu in the menu bar ) , but you ’ll still stay connected .
ContentBarrier X4 can block all streaming content in your kids’ Web browser.
If your category apportion a single Mac , SpectorSoft ’s $ 150Spector for Mac OStakes frequent snapshot of the cover and can log keystrokes without your nestling ’s noesis . When you want to see what your kids were doing while using the computer , set in motion the program , act back the snapshot as a picture , or wait at the keystroke log .
Stop File Sharing
For kids , it may be hard to resist the entreaty of downloading loose music and videos ( and just as toilsome to realise the legal issues ) . But if you ’d rather not have the recording industry ’s attorney banging on your door , you ’ll want to put an end to any peer - to - match filing cabinet - share-out . Leopard ’s firewall can aid . ContentBarrier X4 can block all streaming mental object in your kids ’ Web web browser .
start the Security druthers window glass , press the Firewall lozenge , and select the Allow Only Essential Services option . This will also handicap blind sharing , single file sharing , and other such services . If that ’s too limiting , take Set Access For Specific Services And Applications instead , which keep all enabled sharing service run . If you ’re implicated that your kids are doing illegal swapping , tell the firewall to block incoming connections from any file - sharing programs on the Mac ( flick on the positive sign to add the program , and from the pull - down card to the correct , prime Block Incoming Connections ) . Better yet , transfer those programs altogether .
Some BitTorrent client use port forwarding to work around the firewall , which means you ca n’t stop downloads , no matter which firewall set you take . To see whether your kidskin have been downloading files using a BitTorrent node , press the modern push button at the bottom of the Security window and control the Enable Firewall Logging option . choose the Open Log button to regard a list of activities . If you see unveiling for BitTorrent client ( such as Transmission , Azureus , or BitTorrent ) , you could uninstall them .
Users who are savvy about surety may find it thwarting that Leopard ’s firewall does n’t provide an easy way to open up or close specific port . Hanynet ’s free NoobProof ( ) extend a simple port for opening and closing port within Leopard ’s firewall .
Limit Content
Leopard ’s net controls for parent are a huge improvement over earliest offerings , but they still may not in full encounter your needs . With the help of rich filtering utilities and entanglement services , you could gain more control .
All - in - OneIf you ’re see for comprehensive control over your child ’ Mac activity , delay out Intego ’s $ 50 ContentBarrier X4 ( ) , which can block or filter a number of activeness for each account on your Mac ( including those already restricted by Parental Controls ) .
For instance , you may forbid access to questionable Web situation , block cyclosis content , filter e - mail and chat for inappropriate language , and occlude peer - to - peer file sharing and newsgroup access . ContentBarrier can also keep a logarithm of your kids ’ bodily function and e - mail it to you as often as once an hour . The program is expectant if you have n’t upgraded to Leopard , or if you come up that Leopard ’s Parental Controls do n’t provide enough control over sure activities .
Web FiltersAre you mainly concerned about your kids ’ Web surfriding wont ? Several service can shield tiddler from objectionable subject . Blue Coat ’s freeK9 Web Protection servicecreates an cyberspace proxy on your Mac to trickle and block inappropriate Web internet site ( as of press time , only a beta version for Mac OS X was usable ) . The religious service sorts sites by family , such as pornography , illegal drug , societal networking , and gaming . you may instruct the filter to block sure categories while cut others . you’re able to still allow or bar specific internet site .
Google is a marvellous imagination , but even if you plough on its filtering feature , it ’s easy to get lost in all the hunting results — and make out speculative entropy from good is difficult even for adults . For $ 5 a month or $ 50 a twelvemonth , Thinkronize ’s netTrekker home ( ) acts as a hunt portal , directing kids to teacher - okay Web website that contain the knowledge they need to complete their schoolwork .
These filters prognosticate to protect Kyd from untoward contentedness . How efficient are they ? To find out , I put correctitude aside and went cave in the darker corners of the Web .
I started by look for for every naughty Bible I could suppose of . Combined with Google ’s filtering might , OS X ’s Parental Controls ’ World Wide Web - web site filtering alternative mostly cross my Web searches . The scientific names for trunk contribution and sexual act work up suitably clinical result without sleaze . Coarser words produce an “ Oops ! You Ca n’t See Pages on This Website ” message . And Parental Controls ’ logs enumerate my every search . I was , however , able-bodied to sneak past Parental Controls when I plug in some innocent - sounding grownup Web sites .
I had mixed resultant with third - party programs and services that filter cognitive content . The adept was Blue Coat ’s K9 Web Protection service . It block any grownup site I attempted to bring down . Intego ’s ContentBarrier X4 galvanise me more than once with its loud buzzing dismay when I essay to access forbidden URL . Like Parental Controls , though , it did n’t block innocent - sound mental test Web web site . I was , however , able to lend these sites to the programme ’s block list .
Augmenting the Age of Innocence
The Mac is a fantastic resource for children : not only is it an grand educational resource , but it ’s also an fine art and picture show studio , a killer whale jukebox , and a advanced communication equipment . sure as shooting , all that power can become a problem if left in inexperient , unguided hands . But with these tips and the proper parental oversight , you’re able to control the Mac ’s mightiness so that it heighten your children ’s growth and developing .
Kid-Friendly Add-Ons
A Mac can do wonders for kid . With the abide by additions , you could heighten the experience even more .
Scribble Pads Wacom ’s $ 99 Bamboo Fun modest tablet ( ) let in an promiscuous - to - grip style and copies of Adobe Photoshop Elements ( ) and Corel Painter Essentials ( ) . If those are too advanced , essay Software MacKiev ’s $ 40 KidPix Deluxe 3X ( ) , Ambient Design ’s $ 25 ArtRage ( ) , or plasq ’s $ 25 Doozla ( ) .
Easy Snapper Fisher - Price ’s $ 50Kid - Tough Digital Camerahas a built - in blink of an eye , stores up to 60 640 - by-480 - pixel images ( it also has an Coyote State retention card one-armed bandit ) , and is pack in a case sturdy enough to withstand playground drops ; it ’s a great gateway into photography for minor three and up .
Protective Armor Children under the age of nine have a supernatural knack for have jam and crumbs into every nook and cranny . Get a screen door - cleaning system , such as RadTech ’s $ 7 to $ 15OmniCleanzor Meridrew Enterprises ’ $ 25iKlear Apple Polish Cleaning Kit . To protect your keyboard , see a plastic overlay fromiSkinorzCover .
[ Christopher Breen may be a Macworld senior editor to some , but he ’s “ Mr. Dada ” to his seven - class - old daughter . ]
