Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Parental controls aren't for parents

beasthacker.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

461–470 of 476 posts

Re: Parental controls aren't for parents

#461

Post by expedition32 »

watwut wrote: post #441
squigz wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1-2 hours a day? That does seem sky-high...

It is double of what they spent in 1965 for moms. It is actually quite a huge chunk of a day, enough to make parents isolated and overworked. And yes, expectations on parents are sky high compared to before. From small stuff to large stuff.

The thing is that parents need to raise functioning adults.

Now in modern society that means that children NEED access to computers and the internet.

From HN you just get the usual "raise your child as Amish" bullshit. Not very useful.

Re: Parental controls aren't for parents

#462

Post by expedition32 »

americantrash wrote: post #301
alembic_fumes wrote: post #69

This pervasive desire to block, protect, monitor, and control your children's online activities through nebulous supervision tools seems like a particularly American solution to a particularly American problem. Much like how little Timmy simply can't go out to play without a GPS anklet and an air tag behind each ear, so too can't he go online without a supervised account on a supervised device on a supervised connect…

I made the mistake of giving my child access to Roblox when he was 7, assuming that they did some sort of moderation. Luckily, the worst thing he found was a game that told him he was going to die that night. It scared the hell out of him. After doing a bit more research on Roblox, I decided to ban it from the household. I'm happy that I did, considering it seems that it's just a cesspool of predators. It's fine and…

Don't let people guilt trip you. It's not your job to patrol the streets for pedos. We as a society have created the police and a justice system for that.

It takes a village to raise a child. And it's about damn time that Silicon Valley takes some responsibility for this creature that they have created.

Re: Parental controls aren't for parents

#463

Post by burnerthrow008 »

ruszki wrote: post #378
DebugDruid wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you’re trying to say it’s a survivorship bias? Well, I did turn right, and everyone I know from childhood has turned out alright as well, except for a few who had problematic parents. So games did not cause harm, but rather irresponsible parents (or, to be fair, parents with mental problems...).

What if these kind of games are a problem for kids with shit parents, or kids who are in a dark places for other reasons, like bullying? The same with like drugs, gore, or porn? Should we just ignore those kids? Or what do you propose?

Well, I think you’ve argued yourself into a corner there. Shit parents aren’t going to deny access to video games which are too mature for their children, so a rating system should isn’t going to help

Re: Parental controls aren't for parents

#464

Post by rafaelmn »

paulryanrogers wrote: post #424
rafaelmn wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's nearly impossible to block YouTube on a smart TV without third party apps, even worse on non-android ones. And the app is not uninstallable. I don't think this is b-tier devs, feels like intentionall neglect.

LG let's me put a PIN on apps like YouTube, so the kids can't watch it alone.

Why does this have to be TV based and not baked into YouTube app ? Considering how addictive YouTube scrolling is, and how quickly algorithm captures kids it should be mandatory.

My PS5 has play time built in.

Re: Parental controls aren't for parents

#466

Post by naravara »

expedition32 wrote: post #460
HumblyTossed wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And depending on the community you go to to ask questions, the likely response is, "just be a parent". Wanting seat belts made just for kids IS BEING A PARENT.

Children are quite literally the future of the human race. A fact childless nerds have forgotten.

I read an interesting argument the other day that, because of how memory and perception of time works, childhood ends up being something like 40% of your lifespan in “experiential” terms. The stuff that happens to you over your first 20ish years loom large over your whole life and the memories of those times will be intense.

So, in a way, designing the world in a way that assumes childhood is a transitory thing that you’re just trying to usher kids through until they can get to the “real world” part of being an adult is just making everyone spend most of their experiential lives in a world not meant for them.

Re: Parental controls aren't for parents

#467

Post by naravara »

DebugDruid wrote: post #311
topikk wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like the parent(s) use it as well > I cannot prevent the kid from seeing installed games that are rated Mature.

Can someone explain the problem with 'mature' rated games? As kids (under 10), we played Mortal Kombat and GTA III, laughing when we interacted with hookers in GTA. It was fun, and we had a great time playing these games. What's the issue? It's no different from playing with a wooden sword and shield.

I did it as a kid but I also understood that if my parents SAW me doing it I’d feel embarrassed and they might scold me. I think there is some character building benefit behind making sure that simulating or watching inappropriate behavior should have an air of seediness and illicitness to it, even if the kids are technically able to access the stuff.

But I will say the rating systems have not caught up to the reality of where the dangers of modern media are. I worry a LOT more about skinner-box mechanics, design choices that cultivate addictive personality traits, and communication systems that create openings for cyberbullying and grooming/sexual interactions with minors are much bigger problems that I feel the industry does basically nothing to even inform me about, let alone empower me to be able to manage it.

Re: Parental controls aren't for parents

#468

Post by naravara »

chaps wrote: post #266
techjamie wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Based on another comment parent made, the Xbox was there before the kid, so presumably they don't want to handicap their own experience using it, just limit their kid's. Which should, by all respects, be a reasonable thing to want.

Microsoft really needs to let parents have their cake, too.

Just buy a second XBox what’s the problem?

(This is sarcasm, just to be clear)

Re: Parental controls aren't for parents

#469

Post by naravara »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #177
basket_horse wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. I think it is an “accident” that stems from organizations rather than anything sinister. Companies generally want good parental controls, but let’s face it, it’s not the cash cow or particularly interesting. This leads to understaffed teams of b-list developers with high churn, hence the overly confusing and half-baked features.

I would easily believe that Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc., explicitly staff these teams with childless adults.

Workaholic office cultures tend to filter out adults with kids by default so it doesn’t need to be an explicit effort.

Re: Parental controls aren't for parents

#470

Post by chrismatheson »

BeetleB wrote: post #174
alembic_fumes wrote: post #69

This pervasive desire to block, protect, monitor, and control your children's online activities through nebulous supervision tools seems like a particularly American solution to a particularly American problem. Much like how little Timmy simply can't go out to play without a GPS anklet and an air tag behind each ear, so too can't he go online without a supervised account on a supervised device on a supervised connect…

Because I want a device for my kids to play games. Not communicate. Not buy stuff. Just play (local) games. Stuff like online communications will come at a later age. Absolutely no reason to start explaining that to a 5 year old. And absolutely no reason to have all 3 bundled in one. > Take an earnest interest in your child's activities, both online and offline. Guide them how to behave in strange, even weird and sca…

90's Consoles are available on eBay or most video games shops :)

Turns out what was fun for you at age 5 will be fun for your kids at age 5. Just the same as The Cat In The Hat is still a beloved book.

I personally have found this to be the absolute winner of a solution.

Post reply on HN