Monitoring what everyone in our house looks at is a task. Between my fiancée and me, we have five kids ranging from six to fifteen. Each of the five kids has different content they are allowed to view and have access. I set up a basic media server a few years ago so everyone in the house can have centralized access to pictures, music, and movies.
I am at my wits end trying to monitor the media to which each kid has access. Of course, the six year old wants to listen to music only the fifteen year old can listen. The same goes for movies; I would never allow the six or ten year olds watch the same movies I would allow my fifteen year old.
Using products like Norton Family to monitor internet activity is fantastic for keeping track of online activity. Keeping on top of the movies and media that are brought into the house is another story. A few years ago I set up a centralized media server to organize music and movies as well as provide a central file storage spot.
I realized I’m not infallible so I relied on a couple of my peers for suggestions. I needed a fresh approach to keeping the kids safe from data already in the house. My peers don’t have kids in the house so I was expecting answers involving duct tape and handcuffs. Surprisingly, they had some realistic ideas.
Tackling the internet issue is somewhat easy compared to monitoring how the kids individually access movies, music and other data inside the house. As I mentioned earlier, the central server is a great solution for a common file storage location. One of its pitfalls has been that everyone has access to everything.
To get around that problem I created a set of folders on the server which each child has individual access. In other words, I created a set of folders that only certain kids have access to. The six year old can access movies that are appropriate for him. The ten year olds can look at all the files for the six year old plus some that are suitable for them. The twelve year old can see a little more. Mom and Dad have access to everything including administrative rights to add or remove users.
How is this done? First, it can be done using a shared folder on either a dedicated server or a computer on the network. If, as the administrator, you right click the folder name you will be presented with a tabbed window. The “security” tab is your key to keeping people out of your data. Simply add or remove users based on the permissions you want for each. I created five folders; each one with the age appropriate data. Everyone has access to the youngest kids media. I add a user for each folder based on the child’s age. Only the fifteen year old has access to PG-13 movies and music.
Obviously this takes some time and energy but doesn’t require much knowledge of computing. Everything is laid out in a pretty simple format so anyone can do it. Keep in mind your goal when setting up shared folders. It’s pretty much to keep certain people from having access to certain files.
Tax documents, receipts, and the like should be kept in folders which require administrative permissions. Depending on your content and how safe you want to make it, you may consider password protecting these files as well.
I suggest trying to organize your files so each computer in the house has access to files in one centralized location. A good solution is to have each computer connect to this central filing system so one person can manage it. Afterall, if your six year old has administrator privileges then what good does a file system have?
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can e-mail him at remoquin@gmail.com or call him directly at (978) 919-8059.)