Parental Control Time Limits Bypass Grrrrr!

[Lotuspetal_uk]

Hi all

Well, my teen has hit the age of "but I want to stay up all night watching videos" and because my bedroom is right next door to the bathroom we have had numerous chats about being considerate and going to bed at a time when my sleep is not being disturbed especially on a work day. We have some good days but tbh it is hitting the stage where it is happening too much and affecting my health. We are past talking about it....

So to resolve it, I had set parental controls on the anti-virus software where internet access was suppose to stop after 10pm. She'd admitted that she has an addictive behaviour to it which is where I went down this route. I'd given her the heads up as I explained that this is directly due to the fact that I cannot afford to continually lose sleep and the trust element of her logging off and going to bed had well and truly been burnt and carbonised. So last night I discovered that she'd bypassed the parental control by logging out and then logging back in continually to obtain additional minutes.

So this is a heads up for anyone using KIS 2017 to basically be aware that the parental controls can be bypassed by a continuous log in or proxy server.

My plan c is to rip out the router power cable as I retire to bed but I have also gone into the command prompt to set times for her local account on Win 10 as a plan b.

Am I correct that this will only prevent the user from logging in once the time limit has been reached and does not apply to a user on a limited account already logged onto the computer? I do not want to create a Microsoft account for her in order to use the family parental control settings.

The Win 10 gpedit does not work on the Home edition without downloading additional software which I am not prepared to do (taking the router power cable to bed with me is less hassle), so I cannot force a log off when time limit reached.

This OP is a bit of a headsup for any other parents fooled into thinking their router and anti-virus software will boot their teen off after a certain time, plus a rant.

 

[paul1149]

a headsup for any other parents fooled into thinking their router and anti-virus software will boot their teen off after a certain time

Can't the router be set to prohibit access during certain hours?

 

[Lotuspetal_uk]

She has realised from school friends that the router can be reset. Although I have warned her about not doing that I reckon she would try that regardless

 

[paul1149]

The only thing I can suggest then is to put the router and modem under lock and key.

 

[Ada Lovelace]

I'm a teen (though one in college now) currently up at a ghastly hour due to relentless insomnia, so I sympathize with both of you. Our router is programed to shut off at midnight, but I simply use cellular data on my phone to create a hotspot for my laptop. When I was in my early teens my family had a policy of all of us bringing our devices to the study downstairs to be charged overnight, so I didn't have my laptop, phone, or iPad in my room. Perhaps taking her devices at night and keeping them until the morning would be a viable remedy, though one she will likely protest. She could use an old-school alarm clock instead of the one on her phone.

I think your teens are the time to learn from natural consequences, like being tired the next day when you've gotten an inadequate amount of sleep, but of course the issue here is that you're suffering from the consequences of her actions. She should be old enough to understand why that is unfair, and to make the simple modifications necessary to be more considerate. I always use headphones if I'm listening to music or watching videos, and I don't wander around the house, so I'm not a disturbance to anyone else.

 

[JoeP222w]

Hi all

Well, my teen has hit the age of "but I want to stay up all night watching videos" and because my bedroom is right next door to the bathroom we have had numerous chats about being considerate and going to bed at a time when my sleep is not being disturbed especially on a work day. We have some good days but tbh it is hitting the stage where it is happening too much and affecting my health. We are past talking about it....

So to resolve it, I had set parental controls on the anti-virus software where internet access was suppose to stop after 10pm. She'd admitted that she has an addictive behaviour to it which is where I went down this route. I'd given her the heads up as I explained that this is directly due to the fact that I cannot afford to continually lose sleep and the trust element of her logging off and going to bed had well and truly been burnt and carbonised. So last night I discovered that she'd bypassed the parental control by logging out and then logging back in continually to obtain additional minutes.

So this is a heads up for anyone using KIS 2017 to basically be aware that the parental controls can be bypassed by a continuous log in or proxy server.

My plan c is to rip out the router power cable as I retire to bed but I have also gone into the command prompt to set times for her local account on Win 10 as a plan b.

Am I correct that this will only prevent the user from logging in once the time limit has been reached and does not apply to a user on a limited account already logged onto the computer? I do not want to create a Microsoft account for her in order to use the family parental control settings.

The Win 10 gpedit does not work on the Home edition without downloading additional software which I am not prepared to do (taking the router power cable to bed with me is less hassle), so I cannot force a log off when time limit reached.

This OP is a bit of a headsup for any other parents fooled into thinking their router and anti-virus software will boot their teen off after a certain time, plus a rant.

If your child abuses the privilege of using the computer and/or cell phone, simply take them away from them. You are the parent and you are the one in control, not your child.

 

[brinny]

Especially because of your dire need for rest and sleep, and your health concerns, i'm with Paul and Joe on this one, dear heart (((hug)))

 

[Goatee]

Under your roof she abides by your rules. Simplest.

 

[Wookiee]

For what it's worth, Group Policies just set Registry keys that can be set/imported into Home edition. I've done this to limit bandwidth Windows Update chews through.
Group Policy Registry Reference

It might also be worth seeing if your router has any settings for restricting certain clients/MACs.

If you have enough know-how and a spare computer lying around, you could also setup a transparent proxy (using Squid or something similar). If setup properly, it's a lot harder to work around and does have the capability of setting hours.

 

[Lotuspetal_uk]

I'm a teen (though one in college now) currently up at a ghastly hour due to relentless insomnia, so I sympathize with both of you. Our router is programed to shut off at midnight, but I simply use cellular data on my phone to create a hotspot for my laptop. When I was in my early teens my family had a policy of all of us bringing our devices to the study downstairs to be charged overnight, so I didn't have my laptop, phone, or iPad in my room. Perhaps taking her devices at night and keeping them until the morning would be a viable remedy, though one she will likely protest. She could use an old-school alarm clock instead of the one on her phone.

I think your teens are the time to learn from natural consequences, like being tired the next day when you've gotten an inadequate amount of sleep, but of course the issue here is that you're suffering from the consequences of her actions. She should be old enough to understand why that is unfair, and to make the simple modifications necessary to be more considerate. I always use headphones if I'm listening to music or watching videos, and I don't wander around the house, so I'm not a disturbance to anyone else.

Thanks Stanfordella, I've emboldened the key point here which is what I've been trying to get through to her. Last night she realised that it should not be about me locking down the devices here and her working out how to get around it but mainly about her being considerate enough to not disturb my sleep by being on the internet/ downstairs, then crashing around once I retire.

Last night I regret that I lost it, as it was 11pm and I currently have a nasty cold. In the UK, the kids were off school for a Half Term break - she had ample time to do homework etc whilst off (a whole week). But she chose to watch videos and play games, then left it until close to 11pm to ask me to unlock her PC to type up an essay. My flesh got the better of me in terms of what I said but it sunk in because she didn't disturb me after that. Seeing my voice going in and out, coughing, and as grizzly as heck... all because of her choices, made her see the light.

Now that I don't feel so ill, I am going to sit down with her this evening and bluntly state (again) the whole point of why I have locked her out of her computer after a certain time at night. That plus the fact that she now needs to show me that she can work as part of the family here before getting these privileges back.

 

[Lotuspetal_uk]

@paul1149 , @brinny , @JoeP222w , @Goatee :

Thanks guys! It looks like I inadvertently solved it.

The main thing was the "my house my rules" head butting on her part - router and computer remains switched off when I go to bed. But more so it was a lack of empathy for the fact that she was disturbing my sleep on a workday. When I had my rant and returned to my room she asked "so am I being punished?" (in a defiant way) because of the fact that I refused to activate the computer beyond her typing up her essay in her room. I turned and replied, that this was not about being 'punished', she was never being 'punished' but this was about a disregard on her part for the fact that I was ill and needed rest.