As ethical hackers, we constantly extoll the virtues of knowing who and what is being done on your enterprise network. Your home network should be no different. In the corporate world, we can call it network forensics, pen testing or any number of other phrases. At home, we can call it good parenting.

I was one of the few people in the 80s that was actually online during my school years. But I was mostly alone with my other tech friends on bulletin board systems (BBS). But now that it's on the Internet, everyone can see what you're doing from a peer in China to your parents to a college recruiter. Today, everyone is online, and it is the new social playing field with cliques, competition and bullying. So the biggest threat is not necessarily the stalker pawning after your young daughter, it's the real fear of being a social outcast.

This is a must see for everyone regardless of whether you have children or not. It gives great insight into how the Internet is being used today and will be used into the future. As with all things, the intended use of "something" is not always what the actual use ends up being. It's eye opening, thought provoking and most of all educational for both children and adults. They do a great job of showing you all sides of the discussion. Once again, Frontline proves that it is the premier documentary series anywhere.

Since it is done by public broadcasting, you can watch the entire thing online for free.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/

Don

Makes you think,

I'm not sure computing has really changed the process of growing up, but it has definitely shifted the power balance between parents and kids where parents aren't 'down' with the new technology.

One of my first 'hacks' was to regain access to Doom when I was 8. My Dad had deleted the icon from the desktop, so I spent all weekend learning DOS so I could get back to my game.

Problem is most kids these days can use technology better than there parents, therefore the parents struggle to keep safeguards around the home network. Unfortunately I do not think this situation will change in the gerenarl populace for a long period of time, if ever (present company excluded )