Dilbert1234567

I was doing some computer repair for a client recently and i came across a bit of porn, if this was an adults computer, I’d turn a blind eye (except for child porn, the feds get a call there) but this was a kids computer, the kids in his early teens, should I just ignore it or tell his parent, its nothing hard core, just some pics.

For all you parents out there, would you want me to tell you or not, and if so, how'd you like to hear it?

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Hardknock

Ignore it.

The kid's just curious. Most likely, he hasn't received "the talk" yet. That's why he's curious to begin with. Also, you're not his parent. You don't know how his parents will react. They may be very open to him looking at porn or on the other hand, they may be strict catholics and will pretty much disown him for even thinking about having sex. You could very well aid in scaring the kid for life as far as his sexual curiosity is concerned depending on his parent’s reaction.

I don't depend on society (especially this ass backward society) or anyone else to raise my kid. He's still a baby but I hope I get to the point with him that he feels that he can come to me with any sex questions that he might have. It's up to the parents to get to that point with their son.

Gatorade Frost

Ignore it. The last thing the kid needs is some guy he doesn't knowt elling his parents that he looks at porn. I'm sure the kids probably sitting there going "Oh Christ, that guy's gonna find my porn, I'm gonna get busted... What am I gonna do, what am I gonna do..."

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fresnelly

Honestly? No, given the soft core nature of the pics. At his age I bet they represent novelty more than anything else.

Without knowing the approach the parents are taking towards their son's sexuality, I wouldn't stick your nose in there. I guess I'm a "don't rock the boat" kind of guy though.

If the material is as mild and limited as you say, it's not worth causing the son undue shame and embarassment.

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genuinegirly

Just make sure that if you do decide to tell his parents, that you express to them what you have told us - that their curiosity is an indication that there needs to be some healthy family discussion on the topic.

I don't know the nature of your business on their son's computer. I assume you are employed as their family's compuster fix-it guy. If you're in a professional position, the professional move would be to assume they know. If they have no programming installed to prevent their child from accessing porn, and they give their child their own computer, they must not have any issues with it.

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Dilbert1234567

i was planning on leaving it alone, just wanted to hear some other voices in my head.

thanks everybody.

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Psycho Dad

Our neighbor went apeshit when she found her son looked up porn on the Internet. As it wasn't kiddie porn or pictures of a retired gym teacher that is trying to meet the kid at the mall I think it would be best to leave it be.

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Willravel

Wow, that could have been awkward if someone walked in on you when you discovered the porn!!

You'll do the right thing, Dilbert.

JamesB

Ever hear of privacy?

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sapiens

If it was illegal material, I would do something about it. But reporting it doesn't sound like part of your job (unless the material is somehow interfering with the proper functioning of the computer). As others have suggested and as you have already intimated, I would ignore it.

If someone told me that there was porn on my child's computer, I would probably thank them, but I wouldn't consider it their business to tell me. If they said the above, I would want to tell them "I'll leave the computer fixing to you. You leave the parenting to me. Ok?" (And I probably would stop doing business with them).

genuinegirly

ahhh... good point. i was thinking in the case of a close family friend... but that's pretty much taboo there too, i'm sure.

me <--not a parent... just an aunt.

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sapiens

I might tell the person if I was a close family friend or relative (Depending on the age of the kid. If the kid was a teen, I probably wouldn't say anything.). If the kid was younger I would just say, "It's none of my business one way or the other, but I just wanted to give you a heads up that there was some adult material on the hard drive."

analog

It's no one's business.

I support my opinion by the following, underlying issue:

I realize this has to do with a minor, and it's illegal for them to have these materials on their computer, but at what point do you stop or start to use your morality against the privacy of a client? Minors deserve privacy as well.

Totally separate from all this, if the parents did their job, a too-young teen would not have unsupervised and unrestricted access to the internet that would allow this.

Dilbert1234567

actually the kid was with me at the time, I asked him to place everything he wanted moved from the old computer to his new one on a USB drive, he did, when he plugged it in to the new system, the system opened the drive, the folder containing the pictures has the stupid thumbnail view on the folder so I saw them then. I told him to learn to hide it better, I suggested winrar to zip and encrypt them. I had no intention of telling the parents unless an overwhelming group of you said you would like to have known.

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snowy

He's loving you, I'm sure!

Yeah, I sure wouldn't tell the parents. Teens need to wank too.

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tecoyah

Hiding Reality from our youth is never...in my opinion a good Idea. They will have to deal with it sooner or later, and Lying through neglect does not work. In this situation I would do exactly as you have done...good Job.

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sapiens

There's a lot of reality that I hide from my daughter, and I think that it's a good idea. Of course, she's only 3 years old. I do think that what Dilbert1234567 did was appropriate. The kid is a teenager.

This is neither here nor there (I'm becoming fond of that expression), but porn=/reality. (At least not my reality).

Leto

we have teenagers (16 & 13) and for about 4 yrs now, Porn has been mysteriously appearing on our machines. Not the great imaginative stuff that I like, but cartoons, japanese girls being raped by aliens, graphic mpegs. My kids are waaay more sophisticated than I ever was.

So , now the port to the internet connection in the basement computer has been disabled. 'oh well" numerous discussions did not help.

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Jex

Jeez, tell him where to get some good stuff Just kidding, but how do we draw the line between us and teens? Do we cross the line at 18 and suddenly be ok with porn? We are ok looking at it but he's not? If he does't look at it until he is 18 then he is ok?
Hmmm, I think it is relatively normal and definately more accessible.

Plaid13

If i was the one that found it and the kid wasnt with me since he was a teen.... i would of changed the file names to stuff like i found your porn and left it there. just to make them wonder who it was that found it. But i enjoy messing with peoples minds

Marvelous Marv

Remember this comment when you have kids about age 12 or older.

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analog

Hehe... you must have missed every time i've ever mentioned that I'm never having kids.

And apart from that, my statement stands. If the computer is out of their room, with supervised (as little as unlocking it for periods of time, not standing over their shoulder the whole time) access, they aren't looking at it at home. There are a million ways to keep a kid off of the internet, and the naughty websites, in their own home- all a parent has to do is use them.

dlish

as if the kid wont find another way to access it if the parents found out.. one way or other the kid will gain access to it...

i bet the kid rekons your the best thing since sliced bread for telling him how to hide it better... though as a parent i woulda been pissed.. ure the technician..not a mentor nor teacher.. fix the computer..leave the rest to the parents.

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match000

dude give the kid a break, its nothing seriously weird/bad so why make him sit thru shit with his parents

Brewmaniac

For a teenager it's perfectly normal for a kid to experiment with porn, not telling parents is ok.

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nikkiana

Unless it was a really close family member or family friend, I probably wouldn't say anything.

I agree with what most people have said about young teens needing parental supervision though.... But by parental supervision at that age, I mean putting the computer in a high traffic area like the living room where you can occasionally glance over your shoulder and see what the kid is doing, not actually sitting there holding their hand the whole time. Kids are most likely not going to look at porn when mom and dad are watching TV right next to them.

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jth

my opinion is that you would have no right to tell them if there was pornography on the kids computer. Unless it was illegal material of course. Otherwise it's a grevious (to me) invasion of privacy even if the kid is 14 or 15 years old. It's just porn, he is discovering his sexuallity.

You tell his folks and if their reaction is then to take the computer away from Junior then it would be unfair (imo) to do so. The Kid needs it for recreation, school, communication etc. So what it there's a dirty picture. I bet if you brough tin 10 computers from American 13-16 year old kids you would find a lot more graphic things then women exposing their breasts.

Even then I wouldn't dare to assume it was my job/duty or anything to impose my morality upon a random teenager.

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thermight

A lot depends on the family morals. Many people would not have a problem with playboy type material. However, if the family is more conservative the parents would like to know.
I am a conservative parent and I would like to know.
My 11 yr old son found his way onto porn already. He accidentally came across it. While doing a report on Cleopatra he found a stipper by the same name. We found this in his history. His computer is on the main floor in the open to make it harder to get into this stuff. I had a talk with him and told him he is not allowed into this stuff. I checked his history a couple weeks later and he had googled "naked Zena". I signed up for a filtering software that day and now all our computers block those sites.

Lasereth

You made the right choice. You could have basically either ruined his life or became his hero. Now you're his hero.

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Redjake

yeah you owe it to society to keep this hush-hush. it's no secret that pretty much all guys look at porn, starting at 6th grade even, but busting this deal wide open would be an embarassment for you and him both, I think. like lasereth said, keep it hush-hush (see my sig) and he will recognize you as being "a guy that can keep a secret. he's a cool dude."

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Off the record, on the q.t., and very hush-hush.

Slims

It isn't any of your business.

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