Help me to control my son

[Fatherof3]

He is 15, best marks only in maths, other subjects are of no interest to him, just repeated a year.
We need to get him through the school one year more.
Just one freaking year.

He has outgrown conventional "anti-kids" software: just creates other partitions
and installs windows/linux, he is comfortable with both.


Q#1: Is there anything one can do in BIOS?

(other than flatly password protecting it and then manually alowing access each time. Perhaps over LAN?
Flushing bios with some app? Somehow to make booting possible only at certain hours? That would be great.)

Failing that,


Q#2: Restrict internet access, how?

Our home network: WRT54G router, 5 PCs, ipphone, xbox, vdr(video recorder), printserver, fileserver.

Current settings: dhcp enabled, in static dhcp window each ip assigned to a MAC address.

In Access restrictions I have set some rules, like:

"HouseOff from 12am to 6am" and block all ips. It works, disadvantage - at night telephone doesn't ring

Another rule: "HouseOff except papa's PC" - in a couple of minutes I get windows notification:
conflicting IPs, and I am kicked out of the net.

Ok, under threat of violence he doesnt dare to touch MY pc, but you get the picture,
he already knows how to change his ip and MAC.

I have a feeling that in router there are some useful settings, but I have my limits too...

PLEASE HELP

 

[StormSide]

Sounds like it time to take his PC away for awhile. If my son (16) was so disrespectful of my wishes and tried to get over on every lock down I placed he would not have his PC
for quite some time.

 

[Scouzer]

Yup.. sounds like it's time to remove the computer altogether, at least for awhile.

 

[mechBgon]

Another complication is that he might plug in a USB wireless adapter and connect to a neighbor's unencrypted wireless network to get onto the Internet that way. So yeah, you might have to take away the computer until he gets the message.

 

[gsellis]

A common IT problem, trying to solve HR policy issues with IT.

Since you cannot fire him... Take his power adapter at 6pm. He is on until the battery dies... But you have to intervene.

 

[BriGy86]

Just take the computer away. If all else fails kick him out on his 18th birthday.

 

[NetGuySC]

go to the fuse box and turn off the power to his room to restrict internet access; then lock the fuse box

 

[rasczak]

i also vote for the take the computer away method. but you need to be consistent with him. if he does not listen, make the punishment longer but stick to it.

 

[jadinolf]

Originally posted by: NetGuySC
go to the fuse box and turn off the power to his room to restrict internet access; then lock the fuse box

Better than that, place his computer somewhere in plain view, like the living or family room.

Experts suggest this.

He will hate it - TOUGH.

 

[StormSide]

Guess the OP doesn't like our suggestions or maybe his son has taken over his network .... LOL

 

[jadinolf]

Originally posted by: StormSide
Guess the OP doesn't like our suggestions or maybe his son has taken over his network .... LOL

I was thinking the same thing. That is why I avoid long winded advice posts.

 

[Fatherof3]

<Guess the OP doesn't like our suggestions...>

no I don't! lol

<A common IT problem, trying to solve HR policy issues with IT>

its so true...


We asked for help in several places, as a result a person from city council is coming on Friday,
her speciality is this kind of teenage problems, she would give us a hand.

Thank you for your unanimous response,
it showed us there is no IT solution for this and we have to face the problem.

and so we will.

Thank you again.

 

[jadinolf]

Good luck pop.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Spare the rod, spoil the child.

Or use the rod and destroy his computer infront of him.

 

[angminas]

There aren't enough details here to judge how well you've done as a parent, but I will say this- don't get angry with your kid. It won't work, and it's probably not his fault that he doesn't respect your authority. Definitely get professional help, because you have very little time to help turn your kid around. Shower him with love during this time, but do not quit, and do not let him defeat you. If the first person you talk to doesn't help, try something else. Don't be one of those ball-less dads who just throw their hands up and whine that nothing can be done. Your kid only has one dad, and he needs you very badly right now.

 

[spikespiegal]

A common IT problem, trying to solve HR policy issues with IT.

+100

Especially aggravating when the CIO is the biggest porn site offender, insists on local admin rights, and is dorking the HR pres.

I'd still rather deal with the above than a obstinate teenager like the OP has

 

[sourceninja]

Have you tried just sitting down at the table, drinking a cup of tea, and hitting your child?

Worked wonders for me.

 

[KeithP]

I would agree with the others that pointed out that this is a behavioral problem and not a technical one. Dealing with it with hardware/software is probably a loosing battle. That being said...

You don't say what he is doing on the computer. Do you even know for sure? If he is primarily playing games one tactic might be to replace his current system with an old G4 Macintosh running OS X 10.4 or 10.5. By going with a G4 (PPC based processor) you will greatly limit what kind of games could be played on the system. The hardware would be adequate for web browsing and email but not much else.

As far as software control under Windows, you might want to take a look at Windows SteadyState.. That would give you a lot of control over the Windows environment but if he boots from another disk and installs software it probably won't help much.

Good luck.

-KeithP

 

[coreyb]

If he's not performing in school he doesn't deserve to use a computer.

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: angminas
There aren't enough details here to judge how well you've done as a parent, ....

More than enough

 

[Uhtrinity]

My son is only 7 (in 3 weeks) and I do my best to stay firm but fair. He loses his computer at least 2X a month for a few days due to inappropriate behavior. When he improves he gets it back, usually a little sooner than was expected, but long enough to make the point. It's funny, but from the age of 4 losing the computer made the biggest impact. I'm sure your son will get the point if he loses his for a few days, maybe a week to start.

 

[angminas]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat

Originally posted by: angminas
There aren't enough details here to judge how well you've done as a parent, ....

More than enough

I thought so too, to start, and wrote something accordingly. But then I thought of some possibilities, and changed my tone. Also, he seems to be getting the picture. I hope so.

Update us, dad. Did you beat your kid yet?

 

[Newbian]

Silly question but why are you saying only one more year of school when he is only 15 and he has even repeated a year?

 

[exitbs]

I know my WIFI router can restrict internet access to particular computers on the network during certain hours. I would try and set that up. My router is a Linksys WRT54G or WRT54GS.

 

[magillig]

Originally posted by: KeithP
As far as software control under Windows, you might want to take a look at Windows SteadyState.. That would give you a lot of control over the Windows environment but if he boots from another disk and installs software it probably won't help much.

As far as keeping him from installing another os, using a livecd, etc. you could set the only bootable device to be the harddrive, then setting a bios password. He may still be able to get around it, but it would be a lot harder.