jsguero wrote:
If you recall, I did in fact agree with you. However, even if I remove from my children the devices in question, other less-responsible parents, or simply uninformed parents, will not be so proactive. So again, the "take it away" approach, while strictly accurate from a "letter of the law" perspective, will not solve the problem. I'm looking, as I'm sure most parents who care are, towards a larger picture than what's within my own doors.
Frankly, I do not know that there IS a solution, but I do know that a more active and forward participation by the folks who make the phones, the software, and the networks, would do wonders towards mitigation.
And neither will taking the rights of parents who DO want to be proactive in order to do the job for those who aren't doing their jobs as parents.
Again, I do agree with you.
While there are parents out there who simply should not have children, and others that are not keeping up with what's going on (case in point, I saw a 3rd grade girl with a smartphone), the issue for you and for me is that their ignorance, or laziness, or whatever malaise they suffer, directly impacts our ability to mitigate the negative aspects of society.
I prohibit MTV and it's clones in my home. I do so because it is a negative influence, one that I can control, similar to that basic phone we were referring to. Now, short of never allowing my children to go to anyone's home to play/visit, I cannot control what they see when they do go to a friend's home. A carbon copy of the smartphone dilemma. The difference, small though it may be, is that I can completely block inappropriate material from my children, and barring that (some programming is irritatingly NOT rated or categorized), I can simply lock the receiver down to a hand-picked set of channels. They can't get to it. They can't watch it. Done.
This is what I would like to see from the carriers. Something that I can pay for (or not) that helps me to minimize the temptations and threats present by an open access to the www, because quite simply, the web presents more of a threat than Dish or DirecTV programming ever will.
I certainly do not expect anyone else to be responsible for my children, but on the other hand, children that come to my home fall under my responsibility and protection, even from things that their own parents allow them to do. I hope for the best when it comes to reciprocation in kind.
Who's talking about taking away people's rights rcschnoor?
As we've been saying no such product exists. Even if Verizon could block all porn A) It would have to be on option. To block it by default would run aground with 1st Amendment issues" B) Since it has to be blocked the the customer if a child that enters you home doesn't have parent that blocks porn on their phone what can you do about it? Noting. C) Also if you child goes to out of your house porn on his phone maybe be blocked but hat doesn't mean he can;t access it on others phones. So I'm not getting your point.
Taking his phone away or giving him a basic phone are both very good solutions to the OP's concerns. We're not trying to solve the problems of raising kids in the year 2013. We're addressing the OP's question.
Brian68, you and I are on the same page, really. You're saying exactly what I'm saying, namely, that while I can control what my child sees on a phone or the TV, I cannot stop the influence from badly-parented children; I do what I can with what is available to me.
Even the "badly-parented" label is a bit of a misnomer, as I've met many parents who are simply unaware somehow of the content of some games, or the proliferation and ease of finding porn or subversive sites. Still others have given me the deer-in-the-headlights look when I spoke of software and options (limited though they are) available to assist in controlling access.
So, no, nothing works absolutely, of course it will have to be optional, and, unfortunately, all I can do is prepare my children the best that I can, and hope that it is enough to protect them from the vermin that are waiting.
That's not always feasible my child has not had an issue with pornagraph but I am not stupid i know he is a kid and kids will be kids assuming your child will never be curious is totally idiotic even if it's unintentionally but I need a block even for me things pop up I don't want. I know it's possible to block when I had sprint not that I would recommend sprints for anyone I just went to their sight it had a option to block all adult sights
You know you can try and block your kids from porn, but did you know you can find porn on YouTube? Daily Motion also has porn. It's hard to filter the porn. Facebook, twitter, Reddit, and the list goes on and on. If you don't want your kids to view porn don't give him a phone that has access to the internet. Monitor him when he is on a computer, and if you suspect his friends are helping him view porn lock him in your basement. As this current age the only thing you can really do if you don't trust your kids.
Start a new topic or ask questions in the open forum.
