Like most parents, we have gotten our children a cell phone so wee have a way to contact them when they aren’t with us. Unfortunately one of our boys has, like all boys eventually will, that the internet is full of boobies. A have discussed this with him and explained that gee is too young to be viewing such material and that at his age gee really can’t process what he is seeing.
This is not totally unexpected, When I was a young man it was Playboy and Penthouse magazines I managed to get my hands on. However, the type of porn available on the net makes his mom and I concerned. While we know we cannot totally stop any access, a can take steps to limit his access on our devices. I have passwords and software in place on our computers, but what about cell phones with internet access? Is there software available to block porn and can any one here vouch for it’s effectiveness? Any suggestions would be helpful.
And for the record, I have no problem with porn, as long as it’s legal. But I do think that children have no business accessing it. Porn isn’t real life and I don’t want my children basing their expectations of sex on porn.
The phone OS is Android btw. I have gone to the Google Play Store looking for one, but mixed reviews on so many. Hopefully I can get a recommendation from a fellow Doper.
Actually…what carrier do you use? I know with Tmobile, the internet access was filtered by default until you had them turn it off… Maybe your carrier has that option, but it’s not on by default.
Sorry to keep adding replies to my own post, but here is what I have found so far. There is a program called Safe Browser at the Google store that looked like it might fit the bill. Hover, it is a stand alone browser that sends to do a petty good job at blocking porn, but only if that browser is used. It doesn’t block other browsers, so way too easy to get around. I an looking for a app that will restrict inappropriate material from all browsers that can be installed on an Android phone.
Okay, I just got off the phone with TMobile and added their Webb guard. This should work, although I was informed if the phone can use wifi it might not work. So I guess I still need a blocker.
My provider Vodafone UK allows you to turn on content filtering from your account page on their website. Might be worth having a look on your T-mobile one - save you the hassle of a call.
Edit: Ah well, seems the call wasn’t much of a hassle
The parental controls for iPhones can prevent applications from being installed without permission. I’m sure Android has something similar. While this might be a hassle in terms of giving permission every time he wants to download a game or something, it is one way to ensure that your son only has access to the one web browser you want him to access. If he’s allowed to install his own apps, there are going to be plenty of ways around the T Mobile restrictions you describe.
Google play (and Apple store) both allow you to filter apps by maturity rating. Combine that with a web filter app like this one (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=one.paf.profiltechnology&hl=en) and junior should be relatively safe from inappropriate content. I found that app simply by googling “android parental filter” (no quotes).
If you’re worried about him developing unrealistic expectations from porn, there’s actually a site devoted to breaking the stereotypes of porn called (rather appropriately) ‘make love not porn’.
Thanks for the site, I will check it out this evening. Like I said, I am no prude when it comes to sex or porn. I have watched my share of it, but a young boy has zero frame of reference to understand the things he’s seeing. Thankfully, what I found that he had viewed was pretty basic stuff, but if it keeps up how long until he finds some German grandmother being trained by a football team of midgets? The joys of being a parent in the information age. The talk I had with him really wasn’t as hard as I imagined it would be. It was much more than I ever had as kid, my entire sex education from my father consisted of, “So, you learned about all that sex stuff in school right son?”, “Okay then, glad we had this talk”. Hell, to this day I don’t discuss sex with my father or even joke about it. You can see him squirming in his seat even when sex in a movie is on. Different generation I guess.
