Computer stores branded hopeless

So computer stores are referred to as "hopeless" for failing to provide filtering software that's been PROVEN as woefully ineffectual when it comes to weeding out unsavoury material while blindingly efficient at producing swathes of false positives.

If we're going to condemn them, perhaps it should be for failing to educate parents that the only way to keep their ten-year old brats away from porn sites and Internet predators is through supervision and responsible discussion.

But then that would distract from the shocking "CompuBarn complicit in delivering children into the arms of serial rapists" angle, wouldn't it?

Its good question that MOST Hardware Makers Don't address, simply children are TOO Stupid to use computer, Don't Buy Units & there is LAW against ISP Providing ANY under 18 year Old Service.
So , Once You GOT Children into UNDERGRIUND Kids Market, Remember, ISPs' ABUSE Quirks of LAW. & Often don't FairWarn or Even CARE Abut RESULTS upon Others.

Signed:PHYSICIAN THOMAS STEWART VON DRASHEK M.D.

The Internet is not for children. Full stop.

Really, what will we see next? Child-friendly chainsaws? Power tools for the under-5s? Maybe child-safe caps for bottles of milk, nuts or anything else they could possibly be allergic to? It's time to get real.

The Internet is an adult resource, made for adults, for adults. Saying that it should be made safe for children is about as sane as lambasting car makers for not designing their vehicles with 5-year old joy-riders in mind.

ANY responsible parent will disallow internet use until the child is old enough to really benefit from it, and even then, never let an under-18 use the PC while unsupervised. Last time I looked, the NSPCC was not anyone's parent - the rest of us do not need coddling by a bunch of ignorant do-gooders.

As a Father I can say we do not need company's setting up computers to protect our kids. This is one of the issues now. It seems that just about everyone else thinks they know better on how to protect our kids. 

Leave this to the family's , it is there job. Not someone who thinks it is there jobs to save the world.

There's this little phrase that has been lost from our collective reasoning. It's called PARENTAL SUPERVISION aka parental responsibility.

Don't let the PC (or TV for that matter) babysit your kids. They will be safer, you will be controlling (to a greater extent at least) what influences them and most of all you will get to know your child better and build a stronger bond with them. 

Kids go out to play and hopefully parents are asking where they are going, who's going to be there etc. Do the same with the PC and video games. 

Don't just pawn your kids off to the pc babysitter in another room. Have the pc in a common room where you will also be. You don't have to spy on them or look over their shoulder. And if a kid is gonna download porn when mom or dad is 10 feet away on the couch or at the table you have bigger problems to deal with-- and those problems usually begin at home.

I find it funny that every generation in history always somehow believe that things are getting worse and that their generation was not as bad as today's and that blah blah blah...
Nonsense. Whoever thinks like that should really take a look at history...a good long look, not some minor statistic of the last 5 years.
On AVERAGE, across the span of the last say 100 years, things ARE improving. Quality of life in MOST countries is getting BETTER.

Guess what? same goes for child safety. Children today are safer than they have been in almost any other period in history.

Why the paranoia? (you will not know this word if you are from the US cause you have no idea how paranoid you all seem)
Because the new generation is that, new. The older generation does not have time, will or even interest to know whats "new"
Most children today know more about computers than their parents. 
Do you really think these programs, that are designed to protect children, are actually effective?
Most parents shieled their children from being exposed to anything they think is wrong. Regardless of whether or not it is in fact wrong.
E.G. a racist parent wil lteach their children to be less tolerant towards minorities. Something that is difficult to implement when a child has access to such a wealth of information from the internet.
How about ideologies? what if some tree hugger teaches their child to hug trees while secretly the child's mind is being "poisoned" by anti-tree hugging thoughts he picked up online??
(terrible, I know...)

The difference today is that open societies will flourish because they can adapt to change with relative ease, while closed societies will encounter SEVERE difficulties.
See "the great firewall of China", see any form of infomation manipulation or banning, AKA censorship.

My children & your children will end up out-smarting us. It is the nature of things.
It may take years, it may never actually happen...but probability and evolution suggest it will. 

My point is, you cannot control your childrens thoughts, eyes, ears etc... they are not prisoners of your chosen way of life, ideology, religion or anything else for that matter.
They are the next generation, so perhaps as parents, our job is to teach them as much as we can, so when the time comes and we are not their to guide them, they will make the right decision.

No software can do that, no form of censorship or "policing" can achieve those results.

Think about it.



P.S.

Besides that, such measures of control are really too little too late. Most teenagers today have already seen/done things online that they will never admit to. 
Most parents have no idea.
Such is the depth of public misconception.

"For some time we have been calling on companies to help by pre-installing software which is set to a high level of security."

Sounds like UAC Vista...

"Parents can also help by educating their children . ."

Sorry honey, but you got that the wrong way around. It is "Parents SHOULD educate their children, and supervision software can also help" - although the software is useless given how it has been proven to be totally inefficient at doing what its stated goal wants it to do - namely prevent kids from seeing smut.
And there is no program in the world that is going to prevent a child from coming in contact with a pedophile. It simply cannot be programmed.
So, Zoé, if you really want to do your job right, you shouldn't be knocking on companies, you should bashing parents over the head with their responsabilities. But you know that's useless, don't you ?

are those, who did not understand, that internet was invented to overcome disruptions in communication paths.

And there were no differences made between man-made or otherwise happened disruptions ;-)

oas

I've read many of the comments and I like the fact that so many pointed out that it is the responsibility of the parent to overcome these issues. One could say that the parents are doing that by making these types of requests.

It still is the parent's job. It isn't my job. I'm not going to offer services that put ugly restrictions on the computer and the internet for the sake of the children. It is best to not allow the child onto the internet until the parents have themselves affected the necessary security to protect the child. Will these advocacy groups ever learn? It's their members that are responsible not the community.

I'd no more make a beer for children than I would make a computer for children. Hey, let them buy the OLPC for their child.