How do I stop access to My Space?

[MechaSheeba]

Originally posted by: Markbnj
Obligatory post in every net monitoring thread from 15 year-old whose parents won't let him surf ratemymelons.com.

Actually I'm 19, and I don't even own a Myspace account or any other sort of blog, nor do I ever plan on it. But I do have younger siblings, and Myspace is a very large part of their social interaction with their friends, 90% of them other children that they know personally from school. They sign on, they check each others profiles, personalize their layouts, leave comments. It's like the equivalent of grown men routinely meeting at a local bar for a few rounds, just a way for kids that are confined to their homes to interact with each other.

Now I'm not saying that nothing bad can come from a child having access to such a large community of people, yes some with unlawful intentions, but unless they're saying I live at this address on this street, posting maps to their homes, and pictures of themselves nude, it's completely harmless fun. I highly doubt a 40 year old pervert has ever shown up at the OPs house asking for his/her nieces.

And if you're really so concerned about it, how about instead of going and blocking it altogether because of some isolated incident you saw on TV, you sit down with your kids and talk to them, make sure they know what not to do, and the limitations of personal information they should be sharing. Be a fvcking adult about it, don't just bust in and be like "LEMME SEE THAT, ARE PEOPLE OFFERING YOU DRUGS, ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT SEX? IF I EVER CATCH YOU DOING THIS AND THIS I'LL TAKE IT AWAY FROM YOU!" Comment on their layout, "Hey that's cool, did you do that yourself?" You'd be surprised at the amount of time and creativity they put into these pages. Even if you could give a fvck less, pretend like you might be interested for long enough to get a conversation started.

That's assuming the children are young, if you've got 14-16 year olds that are doing nothing but logging on and discussing drugs, sex, and everything related you've got a problem that's already been programmed into their heads and isn't gonna change until they phase out of it and grow the fvck up. You've already failed as a parent if your kid is at that stage and no amount of websites you block is gonna fix it.

 

[MechaSheeba]

Originally posted by: TheoPetro
for every other reason already mentioned that MechaSheeba is wrong ill add another, THERE HIS KIDS. If he doesnt want them on that dumbass website then he doesnt have to let them on. If he doesnt want them watching conformityTV (MTV) then he doesnt have to. Just because he doesnt parent the way you would. whos being controling now?

Since when are kids a fvcking possession? They aren't objects, they're fvcking people. Parents are supposed to guide their children, not tell them what to do, and how and when to do it as they see fit. It's that kind of parenting that's supposed to be preventive that leads to delinquents.

I'm not saying let your kids do whatever the hell they want. I'm not gonna say hey if your kid wants to do fvcking heroin so what, let him, his body his decision. Certain things need to be handled in different ways, drugs can't be used responsibly, they're dangerous to a person no matter what. Myspace is not a danger to your child if it's used responsibly.

Maybe if you paid some attention to your kids you'd know what's important to them. I think Myspace is the stupidest fvcking website on the net, but I know there are a hell of a lot of people out there that devote a lot of time to it, for different reasons. The size of the user base is proof enough of that.

Share your concerns, and do it in a reasonable way. Treat your kids like they're equals, not like you fvcking own them. They have minds of their own, they aren't exact duplicates of the vagina they plopped out of. Or the stomach they were cut out of, whatever.

EDIT: Anyways, I'm getting way too off topic for the software and apps forum, I'll discuss this issue no more, my apologies to the OP.

 

[skrilla]

The OP doesn't need the lecture, just wants to know how to block the site.

This isn't P&N or OT, he isn't asking for your opinions on how to raise his kids.

 

[jlbenedict]

also, in addition to adding the entry into the HOSTS file, you should also make sure you clear the DNS Resolver cache on the client machine.
I believe this happens on reboot also, so you should be in the clear.

 

[leigh6]

Thanks for all the replies.

Just an update:

1st. They are not my kids. They are my nieces.
2nd. They are 11 years old.

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
why? are they hot? the whole myspace thing is hysteria.

right, because he would really think his nieces are hot

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: guoziming

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
why? are they hot? the whole myspace thing is hysteria.

right, because he would really think his nieces are hot

He might not; however, many perps in OT will drool.

 

[Markbnj]

You've already failed as a parent if your kid is at that stage and no amount of websites you block is gonna fix it.

I doubt I have that much effect, certainly not on my 13 year-old. . There are two ways to look at it: first, it's my network, and I do the work to maintain it. I do that work so it can be used for permissable family purposes. As long as it is my network that's what it will be used for, to the extent that I can ensure it. Second, the basic idea that you can't have some boundaries because they're going to see everything on the net anyway is a little silly. Every decent parent sets geographical boundaries all the time. I wouldn't drop my kids off in Manhattan for the night, and not only because it might be physically dangerous. The network is just another space, and I have a duty to modulate their access to it. Naturally they would like to make all their own decisions with respect to that, and all other spaces, but to allow them to do so would be negligence.

Treat your kids like they're equals, not like you fvcking own them.

Kids are not equals. They don't have the same capacity to weigh the pros and cons of a situation and make a rational decision. You wouldn't make a statement like this if you had any.

 

[Busaninja]

Originally posted by: Markbnj

Treat your kids like they're equals, not like you fvcking own them.

Kids are not equals. They don't have the same capacity to weigh the pros and cons of a situation and make a rational decision. You wouldn't make a statement like this if you had any.

:thumbsup:

 

[imported_electron]

That's all well and good for your nieces, but now can you stop everyone on earth from using myspace? Cause that would be great.

In all seriousness, I agree with you limiting their access to sites like this but someone should explain to them why. If it were me, I would wait for them to ask me why myspace is down, which wouldn't take long I imagine, and then tell them that myspce sucked anyway because of all the degenerates on there. They should have their access limited in addition to "the talk" and not in lieu of it. But then again "the talk" is more of a responsibility of their parents but let's hope they aren't like most parents out there and actually do some parenting properly.

 

[Looney]

I would expect somebody with as much knowledge of computers and the internet as you would have seen the myspace hysteria for what it was.

 

[9748904947]

You people telling this person how to block myspace are like Cisco and Yahoo helping China censor their Internet. Shame on you.

OMGWTFBBQ, look at all this violence on TV, or the sex perverts on ICQ/AIM/MSN, and these explicit rap lyrics!!!! Won't somebody please think of the children?!?!

 

[Markbnj]

Originally posted by: AndrewChang
You people telling this person how to block myspace are like Cisco and Yahoo helping China censor their Internet. Shame on you.

OMGWTFBBQ, look at all this violence on TV, or the sex perverts on ICQ/AIM/MSN, and these explicit rap lyrics!!!! Won't somebody please think of the children?!?!

Um... yeah, ok.

 

[BeauJangles]

What happens when they go to friend's houses and use their computers?

 

[9748904947]

Originally posted by: Markbnj

Originally posted by: AndrewChang
You people telling this person how to block myspace are like Cisco and Yahoo helping China censor their Internet. Shame on you.

OMGWTFBBQ, look at all this violence on TV, or the sex perverts on ICQ/AIM/MSN, and these explicit rap lyrics!!!! Won't somebody please think of the children?!?!

Um... yeah, ok.

That was sarcasm care of Helen Lovejoy, if you missed the pop culture reference.

And just to be clear, shame on YOU Markbnj. It's sad that you feel like you have to monitor your daughters this closely.

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: Markbnj
I doubt I have that much effect, certainly not on my 13 year-old. . There are two ways to look at it: first, it's my network, and I do the work to maintain it. I do that work so it can be used for permissable family purposes. As long as it is my network that's what it will be used for, to the extent that I can ensure it. Second, the basic idea that you can't have some boundaries because they're going to see everything on the net anyway is a little silly. Every decent parent sets geographical boundaries all the time. I wouldn't drop my kids off in Manhattan for the night, and not only because it might be physically dangerous. The network is just another space, and I have a duty to modulate their access to it. Naturally they would like to make all their own decisions with respect to that, and all other spaces, but to allow them to do so would be negligence.

The problem with the internet is that you can block myspace, but another site will pop up just like it that you won't know about until it has been used for 7 months. And even if another site doesn't pop up to mimic the same role, there are proxies and other things and you would be surprised what a kid can figure out. Sure, they might not even understand what a proxy is, but all they have to understand is that if they go to such and such url and then put in myspace.com there, they get to it without a problem. Plus you have to assume that at school or their friends house, this is the page they are going to view. Once you understand all these things, you realize why it is important to sit down with the kid and help them understand how to secure their online identity. There was a great writeup about this on CNN last week, about a cop who goes undercover on myspace. The cop didn't end up showing the parents how to block myspace from every computer, he ended up showing the kids how to protect their identity. Because that is how you protect yourself.

I realize the lecture is a waste because these aren't your kids but your nieces, still felt the need to respond though. And I think the original question has been answered well enough.

 

[Markbnj]

The problem is that you guys assume kids are rational creatures who will act in their own best interest if properly informed.

There's damn little evidence to suggest that is true, and none at all in _my_ house. But maybe your kids are different.

I am not trying to help my children secure their online identies. I am trying to keep them from going places that I don't think they should be. By the way, I was trying to assist the OP, and never said that MySpace was such a place. But there are many others that clearly aren't appropriate for kids. I will do whatever I can to keep them from going to these places, and to know when they break the rules. As a software developer whose nine year-old can find anything on the web twice as fast, I am acutely aware of how much they know, and are able to learn. On the other hand, they have a problem too. I'm Dad, and an obvious idiot, therefore they underestimate me.

Muwaaahahaha.

And just to be clear, shame on YOU Markbnj. It's sad that you feel like you have to monitor your daughters this closely.

Hey Andy, you have kids? I have three daughters, and I don't know _any_ parent that doesn't watch their daughters like a hawk. Until you walk a mile in my shoes, to paraphrase the old line, stfu.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: Markbnj
The problem is that you guys assume kids are rational creatures who will act in their own best interest if properly informed.

There's damn little evidence to suggest that is true, and none at all in _my_ house. But maybe your kids are different.

I am not trying to help my children secure their online identies. I am trying to keep them from going places that I don't think they should be. By the way, I was trying to assist the OP, and never said that MySpace was such a place. But there are many others that clearly aren't appropriate for kids. I will do whatever I can to keep them from going to these places, and to know when they break the rules. As a software developer whose nine year-old can find anything on the web twice as fast, I am acutely aware of how much they know, and are able to learn. On the other hand, they have a problem too. I'm Dad, and an obvious idiot, therefore they underestimate me.

Muwaaahahaha.

And just to be clear, shame on YOU Markbnj. It's sad that you feel like you have to monitor your daughters this closely.

Hey Andy, you have kids? I have three daughters, and I don't know _any_ parent that doesn't watch their daughters like a hawk. Until you walk a mile in my shoes, to paraphrase the old line, stfu.

And what is worse, then you know that your daughters may grow up looking for some-one like you. Scary...

 

[9748904947]

Your right, I don't have kids. But that doesn't mean I haven't the right to feel abhorred by your actions. The fact that you are a parent, doesn't automatically mean that you know how to raise children the right way. And I'm sorry to say that this way of approaching the latest, and much sensationalized, medium of communication is the wrong way. MySpace is not a place, it's a method of interacting with your peers. Social Networking ring a bell? And as much as you may not like to think it, a 13 y/o is no longer a kid, she is now a tween if not teenager who needs to have her ability to critically think developed properly. That is your responsibility, and depriving her while censoring the internet is not the way to do it.

 

[DannyLove]

this thread is hilarious

danny~!

 

[Markbnj]

MySpace is not a place, it's a method of interacting with your peers. Social Networking ring a bell?

You seem to know a lot about the Intarweb, Andy. Me, I'm a n00b. I used email for the first time in 1983, and was developing web-based applications starting in 1994, but I'm sure I don't know much.

So I'm wondering if you could point out to me how you know that the people my kids are interacting with on the net are their peers.

Just curious.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: Markbnj

MySpace is not a place, it's a method of interacting with your peers. Social Networking ring a bell?

You seem to know a lot about the Intarweb, Andy. Me, I'm a n00b. I used email for the first time in 1983, and was developing web-based applications starting in 1994, but I'm sure I don't know much.

So I'm wondering if you could point out to me how you know that the people my kids are interacting with on the net are their peers.

Just curious.

Because they say so?:Q

 

[kmmatney]

I just found out that COmcast has free internet parental control software that you can install. I'm going to try it out. The 19 year old kids in this thread crack me up...

 

[Markbnj]

Hey, Andy, I was wondering...

Are these guys my kids' peers?

 

[Dravic]

Your right, I don't have kids.

That about sums it up.

a 13 y/o is no longer a kid

Yeah OK pal?

A 13 year old is a KID, barely even a young adult. I know kids grow up faster now then when we were young, but 13 is still VERY young, and is most def still a kid.

Any who are you to tell someone they are doing it the wrong way. There is no right and wrong way. He is doing what he deems best for the safety and security of his family. If only more parents didn?t want to be the KIDS friend?s things wouldn?t be as screwed up as they are now.

My oldest of 3 kids is only 3 years old, and has become fond of saying ?I?m not your friend? when something doesn?t go his way, or I correct his actions. This obviously is a nice little comeback he learned in daycare. But it was his little surprise when I answered ?That?s right I?m not your friend I?m your father?. Kids are begging for discipline and structure, and its only with the repetition and ENFORCEMENT of the rules that you can hope it finally sticks and they began to understand it when the time comes they may need to apply it.

You have to take anything someone under the age of 19-21 says with a grain of salt, as for the most part they are just parroting back things they have been told themselves. Its not until you early 20?s that you being to understand that you don?t understand everything.

Block the websites FIRST as you deem them unacceptable, and have the conversation about them afterwards as to why you feel they are inappropriate for them to visit. Pay no attention to the naysayer?s.