Deleting history

[foxyroxy141]

Hi. My sister is extremely concerned that her 14 yr old son is looking at 'dodgy' websites. She has tried to check to see what he has been looking at but he obviously has guessed she will do this and has deleted the history - he has also deleted the cookies too! Is there any other way that she can 'snoop' on him? I know he's entitled to a degree of privacy but he's only 14 and has been acting rather strange lately.....although they have got parental controls installed so I can't imagine what he's trying to hide!

[vehelpfulguy]

Well she could try looking at the files in the Temporary Internet Folder (if he has not deleted them).

If using IE then select Tools then Internet Options. Then select Settings.

There is a button View Files. This lists all files that have been downloaded from the internet.

Sort the files by size bring the larger files to the top (movie clips etc).

Double click on them to see what they are. May get a warning message but ignore it.

[vehelpfulguy]

Also on the Start menu is an option My Recent Documents.

This will display a list of the most recent documents opened, which I believe also includes movie files.

See if there is anything on there.

[Ethel]

I would guarantee that a 14 year old will be looking at porn.

What can be done about it though, I don't know.

Unless they put the computer in the living room and put a lock on it so it can only be used when the parents say so.

[vehelpfulguy]

You could also open the Windows Media Player and open the File menu.

This lists all the last few files that have been played in the media player.

It can be difficult to find the File menu, I got it by clicking on the small triangle in the top right.

[Catso]

You could look at some of the 3rd party add-on internet filters/restrictors to further prevent access to 'dodgy' sites.

If you are running XP, you can set up local policies to remove the General tab in Internet Options. This does work on XP Workstation, never tried it on XP Home.

[naz_nomad]

get a keylogger ... see exactly what he types on the keyboard

[fo3nix]

What exactly is wrong with it? He's 14, he's growing up, and he will do that. Why do you think magazines like FHM and Maxim sell so well? Certainly not for the fashion section.

Personally I'm of the opinion that you should just let him get on with it; as long as he's not doing anything illegal or meeting up with anyone he'll come to no real harm.

[Catso]

I would - to some degree - agree with you fo3nix. There's nothing at all wrong with a 14-year old boy wanting to look at naked ladies.

However, as we know, the internet goes a lot further than this, and I think his parents are right to be concerned. He could be looking at some dreadful sites, the real hard-core stuff, that aren't really anything to do with admiring the opposite sex. He's not going to censor himself, is he? Some very disturbing pics can be only a click away.

And if his parents don't know what sites he is visiting, how do they know he's not doing anything illegal or arranging to meet somebody? They are being responsible and caring parents, in my view.

[randomer]

Being responsible and caring as the last contributer to this question wrote doesn't involve snooping around in my opinion. Confront him and tell him not to meet people that he doesn't know etc etc. But don't make him feel ashamed or too embarassed. I know this doesn't really answer the original question but I felt obliged to comment. And I felt that the 'he can't censor himself' comment to be distastefully put.

[WoWo]

randomer - I agree, I wasn't too keen on the "He's not going to censor himself, is he?" either.

[JimmyK]

I am not sure that randomer's idea of "confronting him" is very well put, and sort of contradicts the idea in his reply of not making him feel ashamed: ask him about it by all means, that is being responsible, but he may for example have a sexuality issue that he is not ready to talk about.

and without snooping, make sure you visit a few web sites yourself, any ones, that should be there in temp internet folders: if they all dissappear then you will be sure he is deleting the history of sites visited.

[Catso]

I can't believe that so many people on AB are actually in favour of not trying to prevent a 14-year old viewing hard-core porn, sado-masochistic porn, bestiality etc sites.

How about if it was the BNP's site? Would that alter your opinion?

[fo3nix]

Catso: I'm a liberal, and I believe that anyone should be free to read information on anything they want. Acting that information and commiting an offense like murder is an entirely different thing. It would be a very sad day if everyone were against reading other peoples' views, even if those views are obviously rubbish.

[Catso]

fo3nix, I absolutely agree with all those sentiments, but in this case it's a child - 14 is still a child, IMHO. And it's a parent's (in fact, any adult's) responsibility to protect children from harm. The internet can be a dangerous place, and his parents are right to keep an watchful eye on what he does. Do you not think it may, at the very least, upset him to see the extreme S&M images? Or possibly form his opinions on what is an acceptable way to treat women?

If he were 18, I'd have a completely different opinion on the matter, and I'd agree with you 100%.

[fo3nix]

Yes I completely agree with that. But we don't really know what he's looking at. And I'm sure whatever he's looking at he's heard about before in the playground anyway. 14 is still a child under current law, but far from a child in today's society.

Maybe a mix for now is in order?

You can get something like this, which is very hard to detect and there's no real way to get round it:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/security/5a05 /

[JimmyK]

hi catso,
I am not sure if you included me in the bracket of not preventing him viewing undesirable web sites... but just to qualify my position
no a child should NOT be allowed to view bestiality, s and m etc.... but he should have the opportunity to view some sites. and if it is a sexuality issue, which I am sure many 14 year olds go thro but never get a chance to explore as they are suppressed, feel confused, ashamed, worried about, then there needs to be sensitivity about it.
I am sure that mom is very conscientious, otherwise the posting would not be here, so I see both sides, and if I was to take sides over it, I would take mom's every time.
I hope it gets resolved amicably.