Adult website accessible even with parental controls

[SomewhereNow]

Sorry not sure if this should be here, in Tech or elsewhere!

As soon as my DD was old enough to use the internet I set strict parental controls on our router. Obviously this meant I couldn't visit any adult sites myself without turning the controls on and off. However I discovered (through here I think) an adult website that it will let me access and while this is all very nice for me I'm concerned about DD accessing this or any other similar sites. I guess it's what you'd call a more tasteful adult site but still very graphic - assume this may be why the router hasn't flagged it as porn though?

Anyone know more about how all that works and can advise?

[codewaist]

It's hard to say without a bit more information on how your parental controls work; if it's blacklisting sites then the one you are accessing may not be on the list. If it's based on content information on the website then that may not be accurately describing themselves.

[Notapodling]

Parental controls are pretty unreliable tbh. They block the obvious sites but can also block innocent ones (I've heard of some blocking Wikipedia /NHS pages because the 'wrong' keywords were thrown up. Unfortunately, they're fairly easy to circumvent if you want to (and you have). They'll stop your DD coming across most inappropriate content accidently but if she's looking, then not. How old is she? Unfortunately, I think that once our children hit their teen years, we have to have a frank conversation with them about the nature of online porn so that they know it doesn't reflect real life and get reliable and safe information from us and not porn sites.

[SomewhereNow]

Thanks - I've set the controls so they shouldn't allow access to anything classified as porn - we're with TalkTalk and they offer a list of boxes you can tick e.g. Porn, drugs related, social media, violence etc. It definitely works in some cases but as pointed out I guess it's down to how the sites are described.

I agree PC don't seem that reliable - with ours on I can still view adult content but couldn't order DH a crate of beer! Also realise it's inevitable DD (14) will see this stuff at some point if she hasn't already. .

[peggyundercrackers]

Parental controls are easy to get around, anyone can spend 3 Mins on google and find out how to do it if they really wanted to.

[SomewhereNow]

Not if I set them so they don't allow access to Google .

[peggyundercrackers]

Not if I set them so they don't allow access to Google grin.

There always yahoo or ask Jeeves or bing or any of the other million search providers

[TisMeTheLadFromTheBar]

Maybe I am cynical but does anyone else think the op is a teenager trying to get through parental controls with the help of mn

[SomewhereNow]

Haha I wish! I've been on here for years under various names - currently on threads covering everything from Christenings to crap films to buying a pair of DMs (in which I mention my teen DD).

[DevilMakesWork]

Whatever Theresa May might want to believe, there's no way to stop children accessing porn online. No settings on your computer can replace full, frank and trusting discussions with your child and good support at school.

I realise it's not easy.

[AliceThrewTheFookingGlass]

There's websites that can get around Parent controls completely and all you have to do is search 'access blocked sites' or similar to find them. There are options to block these too with sky, (I'm not sure about talk talk) they come under 'proxys/phishing/annonimisers' or something like that.

Porn is also all over seemingly innocent sites like Twitter too. It is everwhere unfortunately.

[Voice0fReason]

Parental Controls are good for kids under about 10 to prevent them accidentally coming across inappropriate things.
They are a complete waste of time for a teenager who wants to find something.

[BoobleMcB]

Am I the only one wondering what the site is? 😂

[MattMurdock]

"They are a complete waste of time for a teenager who wants to find something."

^this. More useful to teach them proper boundaries and monitor their web use than try to censor the web as its not hard to circumvent these controls.