parents' worry

and in an open forum like this you are going to get a range of answers, from 'why use any parental control?' to 'lock it down with a padlock'.

I don't subscribe to either of those extreme views.

You don't say what Operating System you have, or are thinking of getting, and that could be significant. For example, parental control, (parental guidance), on a Mac may be very different than the same on a Windows based system, Windows XP has poor 'in-built' controls, but Windows 7 is much better.

An indication of what Windows 7 can help you with is here;
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features/parental-controls

That software you offered is spyware. It is a Keylogger for the Mac, although that web site also mentions PCs. It would be your decision to go this severe route immediately, but there may be better solutions.

I would first see what the Operating System you are using/planning to use offers, and decide whether or not that is sufficient.

As always with children, the first lesson I would give is, never give personal information away in chat rooms. You never know who might be chatting.

Mark

We chose not to give our kids a laptop till they were old enough to be responsible for such... (Meaning they could pay for it themselves..) Instead, we purchased a single desktop computer for the family and located it in the family room where everyone could see and use it when they needed.. We all shared the machine and it's location seemed to prevent any visiting of dodgy websites.. A few antispyware and antivirus programs, plus a HOSTS file which blocked some of the dangerous websites seemed to work just fine for us.

It's your choice though...

Hope this helps.

Grif

I do believe it is important for children to have a laptop as it is the way of the future. In Australia, children in Grade 5 are given a netbook by the Govt. Both my children (10 years and 14 years) have had their laptops for a few of years now. I use Norton 360 on all computers / laptops we own. Not only does it have good security, it also has a function where parents can block unsavoury websites on their children's computer and also control how long the child can actually spend on the computer. The parent can log into a website anytime and check what sites their child has been visiting, what they have searched for (on google, etc), who they have been talking to via instant messaging, and much more.

My answer would be no. Our family computers are desktops that are set up in the family room, and those are the computers that my kids used until they went off to college. No computer or TV in their bedrooms. For the computer, I wanted to be able to see what they were doing (in general), and what sites they were going to (in general). We had no parental controls set up, just kept an eye on the monitors to make sure that they were staying out of chat sites, and so on. MySpace was the usual place, and their only friends were there real friends. I also had a MySpace page, and was both of their friends, so I could check occasionally on who they were friends with.

I'm in the computer industry, so I talked with them a lot about how not to get into trouble, that they could use all the IM and MySpace they wanted as long as they hung out with their friends, and generally how to be safe on the Internet. You know, don't talk to strangers, never give out their home address or any personal information. They were not even allowed to have their picture on MySpace until they were real near 18 *smile*.

They learned quite a lot using the computer, they used it with their iPods, used it for homework research, etc., and we had no problems with their computer use as long as they followed the limits that we had agreed on.

I got them each a laptop when they went off to college and needed it. They were both very happy with their laptops and knew what computers were about at that point. I took a lot of trouble to research laptops, and get them ones that would be useful for their whole periods in college. I just overhauled my older daughter's laptop for her (new disk, added memory, new 5-hour battery, and re-installed the OS), and it has a new lease on life and still gets lots of use.

Seems to have worked out just fine.

-Roger

I've been a Repair Tech. before PC's (semi-retired). The web content is
a valid concern but what a lot of people don't realize is; if you have a youngster with a laptop and they're going to take it anywhere away from their work or study station the odds of it being damaged are huge!
Kids and a a surprising number of adults don't realize how a slight bang on the edge even in a good carrying case can be VERY expensive. Most OEM warranties don't cover accidental damage and they charge a lot of $$. Most laptops I repair are either damaged or loaded with with malware. A desktop , in my opinion, is the ONLY solution for someone that young. It's a safer investment for your $$ and less expensive!

If u have not bought her a laptop yet I suggest you should set parental controls and she uses the laptop in front of u I mean I'm 14 and I have an ipad