Metered HTTP Proxy?

Jon asks: "My brother-in-law has three teenage daughters. The only thing that he has to hold over their head is being online. I am trying to find him an HTTP proxy server that has metering built in. I started with Squid which has the authentication stuff in it but we would like something where we could allocate minutes, like some of the WiFi stuff you encounter at a hot spot."

Comments

Why?

[miyako]

I realize that parents don't want their kid on the internet all the time, and like to encourage other acitivities, but why resort to something like this? It seems to me that the better idea would be to actually talk to the kids when it seems like they've been spending too much time online. Arbitrary rules like this only make kids see parents as a rival, and rules like this as something to try to get around, intstead of a reasonable guideline from people with more life experience.

Re:Why?

[miyako]

I guess it depends a lot on the kid, there is no one size fits all style of parenting. I have to admit I have no experience with having kids, having quite recently been one myself, however I have the following experience to share:
My parents divorced when I was very young, and shareed equal custody. They both had very different parenting styles. My father was very strict, trying to micro-manage every aspect of my and my step-siblings lives. We were allowed 20 minutes a day on the computer, not one second left. We were allowed exactly 3 phone calls a night, each one up to 10 minutes in length, not one second over. We were not allowed to talk to anyone on the phone, visit and internet sites, or read any books without his review and approval. The list goes on.
My mother, on the other hand, took a much more "live and let live" style of parenting. If I wanted to do something, then I did it, and if I made a bad decision then I had to deal with the consequences, she was there to help guide me and to grow up and find my own sence of what was right and wrong, and to learn the difference between good and bad decisions, but she left it up to me in the end. If I wanted to watch some violent or sex filled movie, or play some violent video game, or read some edgy book, then I could- of course she was also there to talk to me about it and provide a context for what I was seeing.
Of course, when I was with my father I never cared about his rules, other than as something to get around. When I was with my mom on the other hand, I genuinely tried to make decisions that would not dissapoint her. Sure if I were talking on the phone for a minute longer than I was supposed to at my fathers I would be grounded for a month, and I think I could have gotten arrested and my mother wouldn't have done anything other than have a talk with me, but I cared that my mother was dissapointed in me, and that's what made the difference.
Sure I might have developed a few bad habbits because my mom would let me do what I wanted, but in the end I think that I am much better off for her style of parenting.