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Using ICU, Exactly How Do I Use ICU?

This is a question that I've been asked a few times recently so I thought I'd give a proper written answer.

First of all I've got to say that I see ICU as a parental aid, not as an install it and forget about it solution like some of the more aggressive blocking solutions claim to be. It also helps if you know who your child's friends are! With this in mind I see communication as a key to using ICU properly.

So after first installing the software I would leave it running for a week with a fairly short capture interval. Five minutes for younger children 10 minutes for older kids. My choice is to let my daughter know about it, keeping the icon visible and letting her know that I can see what she's doing. Every evening I would check the activity reports to see if there is anything worrying (talking to strangers on MSN, searching for things they shouldn't be etc) but unless there is anything very worrying I wouldn't discuss it at that point. After 1 week of receiving activity reports from ICU you should have a pretty good idea of your child's computer habits, who they talk to, about what, what websites they frequent and what games them play. At this point I would then discuss the last week, discussing what I wasn't happy with and also asking if they need any help with anything. It's important to remember that just by entering the wrong search into Google you can end up with a screen of all sorts so it's vital that you talk through any concerns rather than simply tell off. This isn't a weekly work review but just a chat with your kid.

Once the first week is over I then change the capture interval to something a little longer. I still make it a point of checking the activity reports each and every evening but as long as there is nothing worrying in them then they get deleted. If there are any problems then we'll normally discuss it as a couple and then bring it up in conversation.

The most important things for me are not to treat it as some sort of disciplinary review exercise and that it's as much about teaching your children how to use the computer and internet safely as anything else. I also think it's important to delete any activity reports once they've been checked, for me I'm not interested in keeping a permanent record, just in keeping my child safe.