[PLUG] Parental management of teenage boys on Internet

[Matt Alexander]

On Sun, 2 May 2004, Keith Lofstrom wrote:

> 
> This is a question for you Linux Parents out there, and for you young
> guys who can remember what it was like to get on the Internet at 14.
> 
> I just set up a 14yo godson with a dialin to my computer.  He is on a
> Xandros/Debian box, and the dialin is behind my firewall;  I am not too
> worried about him inadvertently unleashing a virus or breaking security.
> He is probably not going to be a True Hacker (but he already has 
> figured out how to pull screen backgrounds off windoze games disks,
> not bad for 2 weeks on Linux).
> 
> My main concern is that I have given him a capability and a
> responsibility that his single mother will have to manage.  They have
> a single telephone line.  I instructed him in how to use modem access
> responsibly, and he is a well-behaved and thoughtful young fellow.
> However, he did just get the keys to the candy store and he could
> fall into bad habits, or long phone usage could create a source of
> friction with his mom (who is kind but not computer savvy, and
> certainly can't afford $650/yr for cable modem). 
> 
> So, parents, what works for you?  Recent ex-teens, what worked for
> you?  What can I tell him and his mom that will help them work through
> this potential source of friction and make it positive?  Am I fretting
> too much?

What about free wireless Internet access from the nearest unprotected
access point?  Heh...  Juuuuuuusssssst kiddin'.  At least then there
wouldn't be any friction with mom over the use of the phone line.  ;-)

The amusing thing about Windows XP is that you can turn on your computer
after adding a wireless NIC and it will automatically lock on to the
strongest signal, which may or may not be your own wireless access point.
I wonder how many Windows users are actually using their neighbor's
bandwidth without even realizing it.
~M