Sorry Guys I don't agree.

I don't want the government involved in the raising of my kids unless I am being abusive or negligent in my role as parent.

Do you know in most cases involving Paedophilia on the internet its usually because the PARENT wasn't supervising their children. The sickos look for this when look for victims, they go for the loners. So again whose fault is that?

The government is already involved in the raising of our kids, there is almost nothing that we do in relation to raising our children that is not regulated or overseen by the government in some way shape or form.

As for supervising our children, most of us only see our children for a few hours a day 100% supervision is physically impossible, and the very fact that they are children means that they will experiment and push all the boundaries at some stage or another, some do it all the time.

What is the supporting argument for porn on the Internet?

Home filters are a joke, most reasonably astute 10 year olds merely see them as a challenge, and not a great one at that.

I like my porn and I will fight to keep access to it.

It's up to the parents not the state on what is right and wrong for a minor to see. I think that currant laws are enough. Child Porn is a crime... go after those that harm children. 18 year old or older laws for access to porn is fine by me also. But that's not really going to stop children from getting it.

Before the day of the internet, getting porn was just as easy. It's called a magazine. I remember being 12-13 years old and getting them all the time. Porn and children are a normal thing though also. The Human Body becomes sexually active far before the age of 18-21. I believe that limiting it's access to minors is okay but going after a 16 year old male or female is a waste of time and resources. Teenagers will look at porn. Simple as that.

As an adult. I enjoy adult entertainment. When I was in a relationship my partner enjoyed it also. We were both adults. She watched and viewed as much adult material as I did.

Parents should have filters on their personal computers. It should not be a state mandated program.

Parents can manage their computer access at home by giving the computers passwords or internet access passwords. The kid can ask permission to use the internet.
Keep the computer with internet access in the living room.
These steps are FAR more effective than a general filter.
Any time home filtering hasn't worked was because the parents weren't motivated enough.
And I'll go with 5.56 here. I watch porn and I've done far worse things than that before (Marines + Chicks + Beer = XXX).
Home filters are effective.

Yeah... I know that. Women+Boredom+Video Camera= Home Movies....

Obviously both 5.56 and 13th Redneck have not got kids nor understand how devious the seemingly "best behaved" children can be.

All of the above are absolutely useless if the kids go to public access Internet sites, or just go to the homes of friends who don't actively supervise their kids. Or their associates download it and give it to them.

I work about 12 - 15 hours a week helping people with home computer problems. The things that I find loaded on computers would astound you. The latest instance was only three days ago when a local businessman asked about popup advertising that had started to appear on two networked computers in his home. At present I have loaded some software of my own and will be returning early next week (while the kids are not at home) to show the parents where their kids are going, (8 and 11). Depending on what I find the parents will then be asked to have a talk with the kids and I will re check in a week to note any changes in their activity, this will tell me how determined the kids are and allow a path of action to be worked out.

e.g. what do you do with a kid who downloads his own diagnostics and hacks your tracking software, carefully hidden in what appears to be a nondescript file in one of their own games. I have found that generally the kids who are most at risk, are also the most computer savvy.

Most parents do not have the knowledge to let them properly set up a home filter. My filter blacklist contains 38 filters and a site list that slows down the operation of any computer to the point where it is virtually useless when activated.

14 year olds are the most devious, but I have found a 10 year old girl who has almost no difficulty in bypassing nearly everything I have tried, short of having her parents physically disable the computer.

As for those of us who say that they will watch their kids at all times, all I can say is, "In your dreams baby, In your dreams" I think every parent that I've spoken to has tried it. It works well for two days, then it is found to be absolutely impractical.

For those of you who have got kids, try installing a key logger for a week, I'm sure that you'll be amazed.

keylogs are tough, but not impassible.

That''s not the idea. The secret is that the kids don't know that the keylogger is installed, nor can they find or read the output.

It's like being able to look over their shoulder. It doesn't stop them going to sites that you disapprove of, but you can see if they are disobeying you, and where they've been, then stop their privileges. One father I know in this town takes the monitor from the home computer to work with him, locked in the trunk of his car, this should not have to be the case.

Originally Posted by senojekips

That''s not the idea. The secret is that the kids don't know that the keylogger is installed, nor can they find or read the output.

It's like being able to look over their shoulder. It doesn't stop them going to sites that you disapprove of, but you can see if they are disobeying you, and where they've been, then stop their privileges. One father I know in this town takes the monitor from the home computer to work with him, locked in the trunk of his car, this should not have to be the case.

So is it the governments job to fix a situation where a father clearly cannot trust his kids?

My over all stance on this one remains that it is the responsibility of parents to educate and safe guard their children it is the governments responsibility to allow parents the tools to do the job.

Originally Posted by MontyB

So is it the governments job to fix a situation where a father clearly cannot trust his kids?

My over all stance on this one remains that it is the responsibility of parents to educate and safe guard their children it is the governments responsibility to allow parents the tools to do the job.

Yep, pretty much so. The Government's actions won't cure it, but they can certainly make it very hard. Just as they do if the kids are trying to commit some other socially irresponsible act. Like the kid in our town about 7 years ago who tried to set fire to a loaded fuel tanker (carrying 60,000 litres of Diesel) when asked why, his answer was, "I wanted to see what would happen" The kid was thought to be in bed, and the tanker was locked in a fuel depot with a razor wire topped chainlink fence.

The fact of the matter being that many parents "trust" their kids merely because they have little idea of what they actually get up to. Not all, but enough to cause a lot of mayhem. How many times do you read in the paper where some young driver comes adrift on the road and hits a telegraph pole six feet off the ground (obviously flying) and when the parents are interviewed they say, "Little Johnny was such a good kid, he always obeyed the law and did what he was told".

Kids, being kids like to push the boundaries, so someone has to make sure that the boundaries are strong and well defined, as some kids just won't take "no" for an answer.

I've got my own views on parental responsibility, however the government have already emasculated parents in the raising of their children, so now it is up to them to help offset the effects of their actions.