Setting up Mint for a kid

[snowflake]

hey hi & hello
so I'm setting up Mint for a 10 yo kid , I did some googling on it & so far its just telling me what i already know & plan on doing; mainly limiting control over the machine & maybe internet.
dont think it matters but im going for Xfde ,& firefox for web browsing
so erm, did i miss anything? & in term of software, should i install some sort of a monitoring watchdog (esp for internet) or is it too invasive ?
any other advise is appreciated.

[Pierre]

the Linux System is that much better than that Windows System,,
and if the kid does wreck it, then it's so much easier to re-install the original system.

in the web browser, maybe an ad-blocker, privacy check, script-block would work too,
and if you are concerned enough, then make Two User Accounts:
- one for you - with Admin Rights
- one for the kid - with only User's Rights.

then, even if the kid is bright enough to hack your account,,
then the worst, that they can do, is to crash the system,,
unlike with the Windows System, where some serious issues, could occur.

forget the monitoring, watching, whatever - - trust the kid, don't undermine them.
- you can check their web browsing history, if you really needed too.
and if they did clear that history - then that is quite obvious, too.

[trytip]

https://www.opendns.com/ has a good family shield for basic pron and other things. go to the website create an account and you can setup your ip with web filtering and you can also monitor what sites are connecting to your ip.
once you have an account you'll need to change your dns to openDNS 208.67.222.222and 208.67.220.220 also if you have ipv6 you'll need that 2620:0:ccc::2 and 2620:0:ccd::2

remember that using this web filtering will only work if the device you want is using openDNS in the network tray. this can be done in windows or mac or linux. i have my android connected to this service and you can see the sites the android connects to






test if you are using openDNS

[rene]

so erm, did i miss anything?

Yes. The family-tragedy evoking amount of whining you will be getting when kid finds (s)he can not play Fortnite, Roblox, get new enough Flash and/or Silverlight, Unity 3D; anything really that 10-year old children care for computers to do. Obnoxious little bastards...

[Joe2Shoe]

10 years old is way too young to be online. Too much mischief out there. Let them whine OR take it away. Or, how about a pc that's not online? After all, did they earn it?

[KBD47]

I've not tried it, but maybe worth checking out:
http://www.e2guardian.org/cms/index.php
When my kid was 10 years old we were using dial-up and the biggest issue was choosing what web search engine to use. It's the freaking wild west now. Nothing wrong with monitoring and restricting a kid's web usage IMO.

[lsemmens]

My kids all grew up with a computer in the house. Yes, they had internet access last century! They also learnt how to get around any "security" that was imposed. Don't under estimate their ingenuity or their friends. We set the machine up in a public space (e.g. lounge room) where we could keep an eye on what they were looking at without being obvious. There are many technological marvels out there to safeguard your system, but don't rely on them completely. Always keep an eye on what is happening IN REAL TIME. If you see anything questionable, talk to them about it, it might be innocent, or you might just nip a problem in the bud.

[lazarus]

in the web browser, maybe an ad-blocker, privacy check, script-block would work too,
and if you are concerned enough, then make Two User Accounts:
- one for you - with Admin Rights
- one for the kid - with only User's Rights.

+1 for this.

If the kid has a computer, I'd imagine you're using a router... and if you have a decent one you may be able to configure it to filter access based on MACs. Blacklists, whitelists, permitted access times to the WAN, etc. for each individual device.

This'd give you some modicum of control that the kid couldn't - or shouldn't - be able to get around. For devices that connect thru that router, anyway.

More than that, I dunno if I'd bother. In most 1st world countries, 10yo is about the time they start secondary education and have access to a mobile phone. (Nowadays a kid in junior high without a phone is a social cripple. ) No matter how you configure their phone, the odds are good they'll find some way around any security. And don't get me started on the alleged security/censors of school computers!

Most likely they'll only use their home computer for playing games and a modicum of 'safe' web browsing anyway... if they're going do something of which you won't approve, they'll probably curl up under the blankets of a night with their phone instead!

[catweazel]

10 years old is way too young to be online.

With proper supervision, children are safe on the internet.

[KBD47]

More than that, I dunno if I'd bother. In most 1st world countries, 10yo is about the time they start secondary education and have access to a mobile phone. (Nowadays a kid in junior high without a phone is a social cripple. ) No matter how you configure their phone, the odds are good they'll find some way around any security. And don't get me started on the alleged security/censors of school computers!

Most likely they'll only use their home computer for playing games and a modicum of 'safe' web browsing anyway... if they're going do something of which you won't approve, they'll probably curl up under the blankets of a night with their phone instead!

When my 5 year old great nephew was given an iPhone I knew the world as I had known it was over.

[Joe2Shoe]

10 years old is way too young to be online.

With proper supervision, children are safe on the internet.

Just don't turn your back.

[snowflake]

thanks guys, took me two days ,I think I did well, time will tell how well.

[cosmiclaser]

CleanBrowing is better than OpenDNS. It can also enforce safe search.