I know how to view the PC's history - and thanks to another poster, I now know that a history can be altered!

But, I know there MUST be a way to see a history of Instant Messaging. DS who is just 12, recently started to do this, with our approval, of course. We had to install the IM thing for him (DH did it). But I'm sure I read somewhere that you can view past conversations. I don't want to spy on DS, but I do want him to stay on track, which is why I told him we can do this. (I wanted to make sure he was behaving himself online.) Only... someone needs to tell me how to do this!

BTW, don't bother responding if you're going to accuse me of "spying." He's my (underage) son, and I have every right to know if he's listening to us. This is no different than us occasionally checking his Ipod playlist to make sure he doesn't have anything offensive on it!

TIA.
Suzanne

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Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant, filled with odd waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don't always like. - Lemony Snicket

First off, what kind of IM is it...is it myspace, yahoo or aol?

We used to use a program called I am Big Brother. It records keystrokes, IM's, emails etc

IamBigBrother Home Web Site FREE Download - Internet Monitoring Software - Capture and Record EVERYTHING Your Kids Are Doing On The Internet With IamBigBrother

I am not the OP but thanks for the info. I am going to check this out.
I agree with you OP, We have to keep our kids safe online just like we do everywhere else!!!

Not sure since I"m not at that point yet but WAY TO GO OP for being a responsible parent!

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

Thank you, Toonces, for your post. I'm forwarding that info/site on to my DH at his work so he can check it out tomorrow.

Thanks for everyone's support. We have had several lengthy conversations w/ our DS about what not to do (online), but IMO, in this day and time... you just cannot be too careful. I have read too many horrible articles about things that have happened....

Of course we want our kids to have fun, but all that matters at the end of the day, to us, is we want our kids safe.

Suzanne

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Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant, filled with odd waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don't always like. - Lemony Snicket

I'm going thru the same things right now with my 13 year old son. It's a scary world out there.

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Donna

My oldest is 14, I know his passwords and he knows I can and will log onto his sites he goes to at any moment i do not need a reason to do it emails as well. No problems here with your wanting him to be safe!

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Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at:
http://bookcrossing.com

My other favorites
www.paperbackswap.com
www.wheresgeorge.com
www.geocaching.com

I know my 13 yr old is online now alot & I am watching her too thiers too many wierdos out thier I think u are doing a great thing I actually get on dd's myspace page & all of that what ticks me off is what some of the kids from her school are posting & my guess is the parents dont have a clue I told her yesterday to take one girl off the girls mom thinks shes an angel & she is the worst her myspace page is one step from being over the top

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mom of 3 greats girls

You're welcome. We too had the same talk with our DD when the IMing started. I had IABB installed and found out that she was giving out WAY too much personal information. Nothing heinous, but more than I wanted her sharing online as a 13 yr old.

Hope it works for you...its also reasonable!

Which IM? Most have the ability to check messages/archives, but you'd need the password if it's password protected. ICQ used to save messages as a simple text file, but that was a few years ago. I stopped using it because there were too many creepy people, and too much spam out there. The part of me that is judgmental would say to either keep your kid out of instant messengers, or make sure he's only talking to people he knows in real life, while you're around. If there's the option, disable the ability for random people to contact him, too. That's the part of me that also avoids MySpace like the plague. You shouldn't HAVE to limit what your kids do online, or monitor what they say, but because you can't control who else is using the internet, I really think it's best to pay attention.

good for you op....that is what a responsible parent does

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Brenda

GO #24 JEFF GORDON

I know if you have MSN or Yahoo messengers you can go into it and set to Save History.

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