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Child-Suitable Alternatives To Passwords?
An anonymous reader writes "Two months ago I donated my old PC to my little sister, who is 7 — I had promised she would get her own computer as soon as she can read and write properly. I then proceeded to answer her questions about how it works, as far as she inquired, and tried to let her make some choices when installing Debian (she can already use GNOME). As I explained password protection and encryption to her, I was pleasantly surprised when she insisted on protection measures being as strong as possible, so that no one else can screw with her computer. She knows that my younger brother has to endure strict parental control software that was installed on his machine without his consent. The significant problem is that she cannot permanently memorize abstract passwords, even if they are her own creation. I talked with a teacher who assured me that this is common at her age. My parents would probably be able to guess non-abstract passwords. What mechanism of identifying herself does the Slashdot crowd suggest?"
You were an only child, right?
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
...like, "My parents are responsible for me." Or, "I live under their roof, so I play by their rules." Or, "My brother is an asshat."
And yes, I'm a parent.
You are so grounded!
Dad
mod me funny
I have a seven-year-old child who needs to drive around town in a car, but has problems getting the keys. Is there anyone on Slashdot who has suggestions on how to open, start, and operate a car without keys and otherwise make it so easy even a seven-year-old can do it? Thanks! Signed, A Responsible Human Being
"provides a simple solution we ordinarily remember? done!"
I can just see the little seven year old explaining to her parents ...
It's not about trust. It's about accountability. See, I trust you guys, but lets face it - sometimes things happen and we all want to be able to have every person be accountable for their actions. So I'm just going to lock this bad boy down with a digital key long enough to choke a horse.
Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer
So, the first time that happens, you walk over with her, and retrain it for her thumb. BIG DEAL. Until she cuts her thumb, then you help her train it for the other thumb, etc.
If you have a fingerless daughter, train it to her toes (and retrain as above, when Strawberry Shortcake makes her rounds amongst the little piggies).
If you have a fingerless, toeless daughter who wants to use the computer anyway, for fucks sake, memorize her password for her, you heartless clod!
When I grow up, I want to have Christopher Walken hair.
i told my 5 year old my battlenet password on warcraft 3 just to test the waters, the next day, I walk into the computer room and he's on bnet playing tower defense maps. That passwd is now changed b/c he will try to login with it (even when my machine is locked he will try that one).
W.T.F.
Kids can remember passwords, maybe not strong passwords, but words and letters are easy enough. I've seen it first hand.
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