Teenagers and firewalls dont mix.. can someone help?

Hey all,

Been a while since I have posted anything worth while here... but never the less it is good to see you all again. My problem is that I have 3 machines 1 is WIN98SE the other 2 are my kids and they both are running WIN XP Home (NTFS). These are the machines they wanted so I aggred to get them.

Apon getting them home and setting them up on my router for basic internet I thought it would be safer for them to run the same firewall I use (Kerio 2.1.5) so that I could monitor them and make the necessary adjustments per our connection and thier programs.

I got the machines up and running, connected to the internet, got all the proper updates and wrote the rules for thier programs. The problem that I am haveing is that the kids refuse to do the proper updates as needed for spyware, adware, Av programs I have installed for them, and mind you I spared no expense for thier AV and AT programs.

I do all the general maintenance on the machines and I have found in the "rules" area of the firewalls many programs such as messanger chats and what not allowed to run open ended (no specific rules written) accsesing the internet.

I have password protected the firewall so that if something needs accsess it needs my authorization but the kids have found a way around that . Does anyone know of a easier way so that my investment for the kids will be safer?

I keep the AV's up to date but sometimes I find them completely shut down. The kids tell me they turn it off because it pops up briefly while thier chatting and it bothers them..... . I have gone as far as to take the machine away from them by disconnecting it from the router for a period of time as I have control of all that in my office at home but to no avail once I belive they have learned thier lesson *POOF* thier right back to thier old tricks.

Is there anyway or maybe some software that would keep them from disableing the programs? I feel if I make the firewall so difficult that at some point it will hinder them and make it not fun for them anymore and they will get frustrated and just not use them out of sheer frustration. My kids (all 4) are straight A honor students and do use the machines for school and I dont want to stop them or detour them from that.

Welp have to run any suggestions would be greatly appreicated if there are any.... kids are arguing in living room.... he he he it's time to let the beatings begin!!!!!!
have a good night all.

Regards,
FireDancer

 

Very tough situation here. The PC itself is easier to fix.

The FIRST thing that must be done. IF there does exist any disagreements between Mom & Dad, They must be stratghtened out first. Otherwise the poor Kids are caught inbetween and you ( or they ) will get nowhere.

Suggestion that worked very well for me with younger ones ( 6 to 18 years ) using my other two machines. One of the younger ones is a teenage Nieice. Her and I came VERY close to a boxing match.

Like you they are tied to the Internet by way of a Router.

They do not have Firewalls ( not software anyway ) They are both running 98SE. They do have AV on them.

When they asked for my OK to use them I set down some rules. And TOLD ( not ASKED ) them that if something came up that they did not understand to come get me.

Those rules were broken. The one that broke them did not use a machine for two days ( the first time ) For a week the 2nd time.

They even tried going to their Aunt Nancy for the OK to use the machine. Her answer " No Way. You broke the rules, you suffer the punishment." One of them even went home crying to Mommy whiich turned out to be a useless cause.

I think I have only had to deal out punishment no more than twice in at least two years.

And if you do deal out punishment and they start crying or going to Mommy " DO NOT BACK DOWN "

Now the kids are one thing. But I caught a 30 year old Neice ( not the Mother of the kids involved ) trying to make changes to one of MY machines. She has not even been allowed near my machines in 2 or 3 years.

And to the kids involved.

Stop fighting Dad and sit down and talk things over and then prove ( By DOING ) that you can be responsible users and I would bet heavily that things will be MUCH better and he may end up even relaxing a few rules.

BillyBob

PS.

This note has been approved by my Partner ( wife )

BB

 

My mom does not know what a firewall is, what it does, or why she needs it. She has no interest in learning. She wants to surf, get email and work with her digital pictures and Word, not much else.

After cleaning up a few messes on her computer, I installed NIS 2004 and set a password that is needed to change any rules or enable/disable. I set it the way she needs it, and did not share the password. She can't turn it off, even by accident, or change the settings, or do anything else to Norton. I live 5 minutes away, so if an issue were to come up (nothing yet!) I could fix it quickly.

BillyBob makes some good points that the authority should come from YOU, but in my case, I can't exactly "boss" my mom (LOL, nor would I even try!) This suggestion is merely a way to "idiot proof" computer security, and might be a handy solution for system administrators.

With my own 4 kids, I have tried to educate, as they get older, we'll see if i have to resort to threats of bodily harm!

Johanna

 

TweakMaster, StormWindow, ParentalAuthority

If I'm not mistaken, TweakMaster (and a few other programs like it) will allow you to remove certain Control Panel applets from access. You can also change many other settings that affect exactly what programs and kinds of programs run on the XP boxes. Cetus Software also has a beta version of its StormWindow out. SW XP beta will allow you to remove right click, taskbar and even the ability to see certain menus.

I agree with BillyBob, the first thing is to settle parental issues. The second thing is to deal with the PC problems. You are the parent and you should not back down from keeping your kids safe -- even if they get peeved or annoyed.

 

It will take some reading but a great starting place would be Here.

Note that XP-home simply lacks the really fine-grained control you have with XP-pro. Much harder to do a custom lock-down but you can do quite a bit.

 

Hello,

Thanks all for your replys I appreciate them very much... I went to the site Newt offerd and found some very helpfull info. I have decided to start off with making myself the administrator and setting passwords for all that I could and that seems to be helping alot in the last few days. Oh but the complaints keep rolling in I am still researching the site when I have time from my scheduale and making notes of what can be done with this problem. By the way the firewalls went back up and oh the kids are not happy because I have set all new pass words and more stringant rules for certain programs. I told my kids simply that until they start chipping in with the mula the machines are mine and I am loaning them to them haha it's good to be the king!!!! thanks guys I appreciate everything!!!!

Regards,
FireDancer