My son has changed his password. I very much respect his privacy but surely should have overall control?

Question

My son thinks I'm too old, too slow & therefore too stupid to understand any of this. I 've set in place Parental Control etc. but he's way ahead of me. He can't get into the PC without MYpassword but now I find he's changed his.
(I will add that this boy has already been assessed as a 'Gifted ' child but it drives me bonkers sometimes that he thinks he is emotionally mature too & knows the answers to everything.He's 12 but in my day you didn't lnow everything until you were at least
14!) He is a darling & I love him to bits. He clicks around this thing at the speed of light so I'm lost. Please help with the computer stuff if you can. Thank you.

Answer 1

ya... you should have control of the accounts that your son is on!

Answer 2

Wiping all of his stuff out is kind of drastic. That will just make him more intent on undermining your authority. If you are admin, you can reset his password. Make his account limited, that way he can't change it again. You will have to okay any software installations, removals, and things like that because only admins can do certain tasks on the PC. Go to Control Panel | User Accounts and change his account type to Limited. He can also bypass this by starting the computer in Safe Mode and logging in under the admin account and reinstating his account type. Unless the Admin account password is set, which they are usually not.

Answer 3

I have a 17 year old son......so I've been through the same stuff. Only difference is that I'm a computer geek by profession. You should not worry about his privacy....your his parent. I have seen what boys....can get into on the internet.....and believe me....its 10 times worse than your imagination. So you need to change your setup so he does not have your password. Also most parental control programs let you monitor what he's doing and where he's going on the internet. You should regularly check up on him....and I would not allow IM if I were you. Just my opinion.

Answer 4

In Windows XP:

You will need to boot into your computer under something called "Safe Mode." You do this by holding down the F8 key after you see your computer manufacturer's logo when you start your computer. Use the arrow keys to select safe mode, and it should boot into a Windows Welcome screen. There will be an extra user named "Administrator." You can log in as the Administrator and change the password for the locked account as you would normally do. I suggest setting up a 'Limited' account for your child. This restricts their actions and disallows such things as changing passwords or modifying other settings in Windows.

Hope this helps!

Answer 5

he sounds a sensible one love and where kids are conserned trust is the issue of the day.tell him how you feel about it hes mature so therefore mature enough to hear.then hun control it still can be yours if you go into tools then internet options and click to view the cookies places the pc has visited.this is not you spying this is you being a protective parent.from the sounds of it anyway I think youll like what you see that hes a good boy xxxxx

Answer 6

ok i just wanted to add to all of the stuff below you probably wont be able to keep him off the computer .... you see i have a younger sister who isn't even the brightest crayon in the box but she has found every way around the blockades we set up for her..... try telling him that for his safty you would like his password, even if he's only twelve he will probably be able to understand the concern you have for him.... make sure you know what he's doing on the computer and try to trust him a little bit... kids know a lot more then you think they do even at a young age....................... (yes i know this wasn't the answer you wanted but i thaught i might just put in my two since).... and if you want to keep him off the computer and stay in charge make sure your the administrater and make a password for yourself that he wouldn't be able to figure out... i suggest some kind of random combination..... .... ...good luck

Answer 7

Leave him alone if he hasn't gave you a reason not too trust him.
But, still kinda monitor him on the PC for the most part I would not invade his privacy by wanting to know his pass word though but I definitely would be in the same room with him from time to time while he's on the net... but you know your child!!

Answer 8

Good Luck!

I would have problems with a kid like that even though I have twenty-six years of data processing experience. Maybe there is something else that he should be doing with his time besides surfing through computer stuff. How about quitar lessons?

Answer 9

Don't share a computer with your son, it's become more of a control game now, than productive computing.

If both parties can not agree to maturely share a machine, with equal respect to one another, then ownership must be put into place.

Being the father figure, you can encourage your son's gift and provide him with a machine of his own, with prices being very reasonable. You can start him off with the basics even, a crude OS like MS-DOS 6.0.

I believe if he's smart enough, he will continue to control your computer, maybe even making himself the administrator and giving you a limited account.

Answer 10

if you say you respect his privacy then why are you trying to stop him. as you say he is gifted. there is not much difference between 12 and 14 these days. instead of trying to protect him, why dont you try talking to him about things he is looking at, or reading, not all kids look at bad things on the internet.

Answer 11

I know just the fix! Visit your local computer store, if there is a Best Buy have the computer geeks stop by and download a spy program. It copys his actions click for click and he won't even know it's on there. My friend used it to catch her cheating husband. You may need help installing it. There are no wires etc. It is installed from a disk.