Taking Care of faily from bad activities online

[itsjamiesullivan]

Hi there

I just registered on this forum & I found at to be helpful.

My main concern is about my family. How can I block illegal activities, & other bad things & protect my kids where they have to be online while performing the tasks assigned to them such as completing an online assignment. I have seen certain websites where they are running ads, sometimes such an ad appears which is bad for my kids. Ho can I block access to them!

[adkinsjm]

Use a service like OpenDNS or Cloudflare. However, only close supervision will really work as many schools use YouTube.

There are many ways to do this, but you have to keep up with the technology as a parent.

[munaish]

Well, for some websites, you can just disable JavaScript, and it'll get rid of all the ads, but that mostly just works for non-interactive stuff, like articles. It also speeds up the page loads a lot. However, a lot of sites rely on JavaScript and won't perform properly with it disabled.

To toggle JavaScript on and off in Firefox, go to about:config in your location/address bar. Then type JavaScript and toggle its value. There's probably an extension that makes it faster, but I don't like to trust extensions. If you want to use an extension, though, something like NoScript might work.

I use OpenDNS. I don't know if I have it set to block ads, but it can block some of them if you set it to do so. Be careful, though, since web browsers are starting to try to set their own DNS server settings, which would totally circumvent OpenDNS.

You can install an ad-blocker onto your web browser, too.

One thing I do is invert my colors except when I really need to see the images. You can still see the images, but they're not quite as problematic that way, because they don't look like they normally would. I don't know how to do that on Windows and Mac, but on Linux I use `xcalib -invert -alter` or `xcalib -i -a`.

Some ads you can get rid of by changing your browser's dimensions (since some ads only load in higher screen resolutions).

One of the most important things you can do, in my opinion, if you or others are exposed to bad stuff, is to expose yourself to good stuff afterward. It really helps. Church stuff is, of course, good stuff. Then you have uplifting music. Make sure the music actually does uplift you, though. And whether or not you consider it uplifting, classical music is (in my opinion) nice to help one to stop focusing on problematic stuff. My rationale is that there isn't much repetition in classical music, so it helps the mind to move on instead of focusing on repetitive patterns. Some of my favorite music is repetitious circular folk music, but that can be problematic if I'm struggling with intrusive thoughts or hyperfocus.

However, good things are found in many places, and it's important that whatever you do, do it right (e.g. say a prayer first). Remember, God is love. Exposing yourself to love (think charity) is going to have a good effect on you. Here are some inspirational scriptures and songs:

1 John 4:7-8 (also see the Joseph Smith translation in the footnote on verse 12, which fits well in this context: belief is important; it's important to believe in the power of love, just as it is important to believe in the power of God, especially if you want to see and feel its true power).

God Is Love (Hymns #87 and 313).

Where Love Is (from The Children's Songbook).

This scripture, which is associated with `Where Love Is`, above, helps us to know that prayer can also be helpful here:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... 28-p29#p28

Watch for uplifting, friendly, morally good content, without violence, foul language, drugs, etc. Hint: In movies/shows, if you cut out foul language, the other stuff usually falls out the window, too. The same isn't necessarily true of music/art. There are exceptions with movies/shows, but in my experience, they're uncommon.

Also, watch for spiritually motivating content. Different things might motivate you at different times.

[simph1]

Go to: https://signup.opendns.com/homefree/

Sign up using the form that comes up.

Go to: https://support.opendns.com/hc/en-us/ar ... ng-OpenDNS

Follow the instructions…

Any internet going through your router will track all websites visited which you can see the list on opendns.

That means if a teenager clears the history etc on their device it will not let them clear the list on opendns so it protects the family and shows all visited sites that will be blocked by opendns which is a free service.

Hope this helps your family.

[russellhltn]

Note that OpenDNS would only apply to any activity on the home network, not to mobile devices with a cellular data plan. While there is way to set up OpenDNS on them, I think it would prevent them from using Liahona at church as the church network blocks (or tries to) all DNS other than it's own.

[simph1]

Note that OpenDNS would only apply to any activity on the home network, not to mobile devices with a cellular data plan. While there is way to set up OpenDNS on them, I think it would prevent them from using Liahona at church as the church network blocks (or tries to) all DNS other than it's own.

1. a lot of cellular services allow you to turn data on and off at will.
a. Verizon Family App
b. myAT&T account or the AT&T Secure Family app
etc...

2. once the data is offline the children are forced onto the router wifi.