Opendns is a valid useful tool for simple home protection but most parents are clueless when it comes to configuring even simple things, and most kids are the ones that setup the routers for their parents. Opendns has just partnered up with dlink to make life simple(er) for said parents.

"OpenDNS + D-Link = A safer Internet for people everywhere D-Link is one of the world's leading providers of wireless routers. Their devices are in use in homes around the world, and in fact, chances are pretty good you're using a D-Link to connect to the Internet at home today. Which is why we're thrilled to partner with the company and deliver OpenDNS directly through D-Link routers.

New model D-Link consumer routers now come with OpenDNS parental controls built-in, providing the absolute easiest and most effective way to protect every Internet-connected device in your home. The partnership means setting up OpenDNS on a D-Link is now as easy as checking a box when setting up your router, and instantly protecting your laptops, desktops, iPhones, iPads, Android devices, Xboxes, Wiis, Playstations and more.

Combined with our existing partnership with the other leading wireless router provider, NETGEAR, it's now easier than every before to set up OpenDNS!"

-----Original Message-----
From: School Information Technology Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Melissa Hayden-Raley
Sent: Monday, August 15, 2011 8:02
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Parental Controls on Laptops?

School Information Technology Discussion <[log in to unmask]> writes:
>One question parents and School Board members have asked: Do we have
>software that we would recommend for parents who want to be able to
>manage/oversee what their kids do with the laptops at home?


All we have done is recommended that parents use OpenDNS on their home routers. But we can't block their students from connecting to the network next door. All that home software would do is create another password to leak out pretty quickly and become useless. Our board was okay with the OpenDNS solution. There is a line between where the school's responsibility ends and where the parents' begins, and I think each community needs to decide that for themselves. In addtion, there is a line of reassurance vs. technical burden; when does the gain in parents feeling secure become too cumbersome for the technology department to reasonably maintain?

Parents have the ability to opt-out of students taking their netbooks home at night. Because we have used only free software, students are able to download the same apps onto a home computer that the parents can run their own filtering software on. Between this and OpenDNS, our Board was happy to leave it at that.

Melissa Hayden-Raley
Information Technology
Milton Town School District
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