3 TO 4 YEARS: YOUNG CHILDREN AND COMPUTERS

This is not going to be a very long post because at Joey's age, we have only scratched the surface of all the issues surrounding a child's handling of a computer and online presence. 

When Joey got accepted into the John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth at three years of age, that meant we had to get him or let him use a computer. We really did not have a good set-up in his play room to have him use a desktop (although this is actually a good solution because apart from the keyboard, which they can drop, there is relatively little a small child can do to a desktop computer, in terms of damaging it, as long as you keep liquids away). So we were in the market for a 'kid-rugged' notebook or a notebook specifically labeled for 'classroom use'.  Of course, Joey does not go anywhere with his laptop, but you know what 'any drop' will do to the average computer, so it seemed like an investment of a few extra $100s would be worth it (we could have gotten a cheap notebook for about half the price). I even looked into tablets but these do not have the functionality of computers, are still quite expensive, and are not damage- resistant either. Kid-rugged computers are spill-resistant and will also resist drops of a couple of feet. Other rugged notebooks are in the market and offer more resistance to all kinds of mishaps, but the price tag is typically well over $1,000 and usually over several $1,000s because they are designed for professional use. 

Our first try was the PeeWee PC, and here, I have to make an exception to the rule of 'not saying anything if you have nothing nice to say' because we have tried to purchase products from this company on two occasions, i.e. gave payment information, got a confirmation email etc. yet, our orders were basically ignored. The first time, after sending several follow-up emails, I finally heard from someone who said that they were changing their systems, and that was why I hadn't heard about my order in over a month. Fair enough, but since I was spending several $$$ on a computer that might need support, I took my business elsewhere. Recently, I tried again, for a smaller item (an optical drive). I did this because I had forgotten about my prior experience and their web site is so attractive...Same problem.. haven't heard in a month, so I am done. 

Instead, we bought a classroom laptop from M&A technology: the Companion PC 2600. It is small (but not too small), rugged, and functional. It does not come with special parental controls or programs. It runs on a Windows XP platform (it comes with a trial of Windows 7, but reverts to XP once the trial ends), so not exactly cutting edge or fast, but we don't need fast and a lot of bells and whistles. The staff at the company was responsive and efficient. When Joey first got the computer, we trained him to use the basic commands using a great (and free) resource at e-Learning for Kids. 

Regarding the lack of parental controls, this was my first attempt at trying to figure out what choices there were and understand what exactly parental control software does. The bad news is that all the softwares which are reviewed out there, even some of the most popular ones, have some pretty big gaps or flaws. And for us, it did not really make sense to monitor social media, since of course Joey does not have access to it at his age. Purchasing a special software at this stage seemed over the top, but if you know of one that you love and never lets you down, I would love to hear from you!

So our solution for the time being consisted of: 1. Locking Google SafeSearch on, since Joey does not have the password to his own google account and 2. Removing all shortcuts to programs on the start menu, except for the few we allow him to use. Clearly, this is a temporary solution which works because of his limited and always supervised access to the computer, even now (so it is never used as a source of entertainment, and he never really have a chance to 'explore' all the features); and his age... I am sure that we will have to resort to more sophisticated measures once he really becomes proficient. 

One tool I do find very useful is the "YouTube Sanitizer". It basically keeps the YouTube website from suggesting other videos, which might be either non-relevant or not appropriate for your child.