"Get parents' permission before going online."

[BakingBluePotatoe]

Dial up days:
A little backstory, my father does research on Child Welfare... very big important stuff.
Of course, I was a young kid, and still going to school, and Dad did have a job that had him working various hours. (Cab Driver)
Really, the only time I had to ask anybody to use the internet that I can remember was when Dad was home and doing his research... when he wasn't busy with that, or wasn't even home, it was fair game. Not really sure why my Grandparents never said anything about the tied up phone line, but I think at the time we had Cell Phones and stuff anyway.

High-Speed Internet, WHOOOOOOOOO!:
Computer in my room at all times+it's all Wifi=24/7 no questions asked access, baby!
I'm sure, when I was living with my mother, that if she didn't need the internet for her own stuff (I think she does Paralegal or something?), that would be a different story... meanwhile at my Dad's place, it's all free all the time. Only things that get asked would be something like "Hey, are you downloading a really big file? My connection is slow"

 

[pkmin3033]

Yeah, back when we had dial-up I always had to ask for permission before I went online...and I had 10 hours a week, which I was constantly trying to extend with varying degrees of success. I didn't get the limit lifted until I was 15, and we didn't get a Broadband connection until just before then either.

I've never had the whole "be careful what you look at" speech given to me though; there was the mutual understanding that I had the common sense not to look at things I shouldn't...since browsing history was recorded, and heaven help me if I got caught, which WOULD happen. I never tried pushing my luck; my parents were pretty strict when it came to the internet, and priveleges could be revoked very quickly...and frequently were whenever I misbehaved.

 

[Juno]

Oh yeah, forgot about dial-up. I did have to ask back then, 'cause phone.

But they never questioned the content I was viewing online or anything, at any age. The most warning I ever got as a kid was "don't talk to strangers online because they're all axe murderers that lure children out to meet them".

 

[VeranithasVI]

There was a time for about a year when I had to ask for my parents' permission to go on certain websites. Then I started using the computer in the lounge room, where my family hung out, and they realised that all I do online is go on forums such as this and play around with Flash/Photoshop. After that, I didn't really need to ask anymore, even when I got a PC in my bedroom.

 

[mikey]

I needed permission. My mom was overprotective. She knew that there was bad stuff on the internet, and always hovered over my shoulder to see what sites I was on. Now, at 22 years old, I don't need permission obviously!

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

Nope, never needed that...

 

[Vinny Vidi Vici]

When we had dial-up, it was sort of necessary in case someone was expecting a phone-call. Once we had ADSL though, no.

My parents are an interesting case, as in a sense they were overprotective, but in a more aloof sort of way. Firstly I think they just flat out trusted that I wasn't going to do anything too bad on the net (well unless you consider piracy bad( in fairness, I was mostly downloading games that didn't come out in Australia), but there was no standing over me or wanting to know what I was doing on the computer at all times sort of deal that I know a lot of other kids had to put up with (I once got one of my friends into trouble for swearing on an instant messanger for example). That being said, it wouldn't surprise me if my Dad looked at the internet search history every so often as that's the type of thing he'd do.

 

[Chocolate™]

Well, before I became 10 my mom and dad got really annoyed if I made an account on an online social media without asking their permission. They'd be like thank god it's a trusted site like pokemon.com or people might steal your personal information.

Now they have no problem but although I'm a LOT older, they still don't like it when I talk with people on the Internet because they think everybody's a forty year old pedophile. I don't erase my history because I don't really do any inappropriate stuff and my dad's better with computers than me and can easily find stuff.

 

[IggyKoopa]

The only thing I'd do on the internet when I was a kid was flash games so my parents didn't really care, and they continued to not care even when I started to go on message boards at like 12 years old, which is lucky because my parents are normally slightly overprotective. They didn't know what I was seeing or doing on those forums, nor did they know I was playing TF2 or any one of the countless games they wouldn't have approved of, or anything. And by god, I abused that fact (and I'm still abusing it today, since at 16 I'm pretty sure they still wouldn't approve of me buying any M-rated game).