Look what I got!!!!

I am now the owner of an iPod Touch 4.5g with 8GB of memory.  I didn't win it and I didn't buy it.

I confiscated it.

One of our children had it.  They are not allowed to have iPods.  

We were told by this child that a friend let them borrow it.

I don't think so.

I called said friend and the friend knew nothing about it.  I talked to another friend;  they, too, knew nothing about it. I asked another friend's mom if one of her kids left it at our house.  She said her kids don't have iPods.  She called me later to tell me that her kids told her the iPod belonged to the child that I caught with it.  I'll be having a conversation with this child again to find the truth about the iPod.  But I am pretty sure I know the answer - they bought it with their own money.  

Now, how did I find out this child even had the iPod.  That's a story in itself.  We have had one form or another of internet monitoring software for quite some time.  I have always made sure our computers have software installed and parental controls enabled and restrictions on when they can be used.  In addition, they are in the school room and the office - very public places.  

Most recently, we have been using NetNanny for our internet monitoring.  Our year subscription was due to expire soon and I was looking for something different.  I was unhappy with some of the features/problems with NetNanny.  I found a program called Bsecure.  It is recommended by Focus on the Family and got a great review over at PCmag.com.

One thing I liked about it is that in addition to providing filtering for each computer on which it is installed, it also provides a way to monitor/filter ANY computer/device that accesses the internet via your wireless network.  That means if a friend comes over with a laptop or iPod, it is monitored.  If the Wii , Xbox or Roku is being used to access the internet, it is monitored.  You can also set it up to send e-mail or text messages if someone tries to access blocked websites.

So, I bought it and installed it on Saturday.  On Sunday morning, I had e-mails in my inbox where someone had attempted to access inappropriate websites.  It happened again Sunday afternoon.  Since I don't check my e-mail that often, I decided I needed to enable the text message feature.  

This morning, I got a text message.  I promptly headed to children's rooms to see what I could see.  It wasn't long before I found the contraband device - and a lot of excuses and lies.  

The iPod is now mine and the offender has been banned from any screen time for the next month.  

The moral of this story is this:  As a parent, you can never be too careful with the internet.  I thought, as a very tech-savvy parent, that I was doing all the right things.  It turns out it wasn't enough - and it isn't the first time I've come to that realization.  

Parenting - the toughest job you'll ever love.