I am a Systems Engineer with over 20 years experience, the father of two boys (12 and 5), and a charter AOL user. 

Yep, I said AOL. 

AOL provides the best kid filter, hands down.  Their filters have prevented my oldest from stumbling into the wrong sites dozens of times, plus it provides me a daily, detailed report of which sites he visits, whom and how often he chats, etc.

Case in point: When he was 9, a Cub Scout, he wanted to go to the Scout magazine website, BoysLife.org.  He mistakenly went to boyslife.COM, a decidedly kid un-friendly site.  AOL blocked him, and presented two buttons: request access (via IM to me) or an override (if, for example, I was sitting with him).  Now granted: mom was sitting with him, as we always did for him at that age, but to spare my wife going to that site.

As someone who works in marketing for a network security company, I wouldn’t make a living without computers. That said, I’m in no rush to get my kids on one. My oldest son (4) will sit on my lap and move the mouse around, but he’s not terribly interested and frankly, I’d rather he was outside riding his bike or something.

However, when he does start using it, there are enough “nanny” security applications both built-into IE and other browsers, as well as paid-for applications, to zip the Internet up tighter than...well, use your imagination.

And I plan to use them.

I let my kids watch a couple videos on YouTube (the BBC Walking with Dinosaurs, and the Spiderman cartoon intro).  And once in a while, we let them play flash games on the Thomas or Bob the Builder site.

But yeah, I try and control it, because they like it so much.

My kids use the computers all of the time.  Mostly, they play the flash games on PBS kids or nickjr.

What scares me is that my kids can type before they can spell.

My six year-old knows how to get to a lot of her favorite sites too.  Right now, she only uses the computer when her Mom or I are right nearby and we limit her use although we don’t have any strict time limits.  Soon though I’m sure we’ll get some kind of security program.

She’s getting great at typing already too.  With kids using computers from such a young age do they even have typing or keyboarding classes in high schools anymore?

When I set-up the computer for my son to play his games I will usually pull out the wireless network card or the network cable to stop him getting on the Internet.

I manage a network for around 200 young people, and I still have not found anything that is more effective at filtering than simply not letting him on the Internet.

I wourk in educational technology, designing online courses for post secondary students so my views may be biased, but I am all for my kids learning tech skills and media literacy.

My 4 year old likes to view family photos and videos on the computer. She also likes to play games at CBC Kids, similar to PBS kids in the US. I am with her the whole time, trying to explain to her what is going on.

I think the key is teaching them at this early age while we still have a bit of influence on what they do and how they think. Parental blocks are wonderful things and should be used for those inadvertent times when the machines spit out some questionable content, but I think the best parental block around is teaching your kids early on to develop critical thinking skills and media literacy skills around using technology.

I think it’s great to see kids jumping into technology head first. We’re starting to move into the conceptual age where Right brained directed thinking will be the norm.

Why not start them early and prepare them for the future, right?

We have two kids, 5 and almost 2. The five year old has had his own computer for close to a year now and recieved a pretty decent upgrade for Christmas.
The computer sits a few feet from the TV (the TV can’t be seen from the computer), which leaves them just across the room from mom or dad. The screen faces the kitchen/dining room, where someone tends to be while they’re playing on the computer.
the 5 year old knows that there are games and learning games (though in reality almost all the games he plays are learning games. He frequents nickjr, rescure heros site and a few other bookmarked shortcuts we’ve set up.
However, by far the best reason for him to be able to be on the computer and the reason he has his own is Jump Start World. It’s a K-2nd program and it’s down wonders to help him learn new skills.

We do limit his time on the computer and it can go for days without being used....at this stage in life, we want to make sure his imagination is developing as much as the rest of him - TV, TiVo, the computer, Leapster and all the other electronics limit his imagination, so we limit their time.
(It seems so strange to tell a kid they have to go play.)

Like several of the others that commented, I have been in the IT business for several years. Computers have been a big part of our entire family. In many ways a computer is a great educational tool that every child should get to know. At a young age stick with learning games and software. As your kids mature just like anything in life you need to set boundries for them and make them aware of the dangers involved. Hopefully this parental guidance will keep them on the right track when they are old enough to experience all the Internet has to off.  A bit of caution your childrens friends may not get the same from their parents, which could have an impact on yours. I just posted an article about this topic on my own site.

I believe that it is good for young kinds to be familiar with computers early on, since knowledge with computers is becoming more and more important these days.  I think that children learning even the most basic computer functions can be enjoyable given the right tools and support from parents.

There is this PC game I recently bought online for my two-year-old son called Clicktoy (http://www.clicktoy.com/), which plays like an interactive 3D story-time for toddlers featuring a host of realistic animals in a detailed meadow environment, which can all be controlled by the press of any key on the keyboard.  He loves the simplicity and the immediate satisfaction from the little animated critters, and I love playing alongside him, explaining the world to him.  I believe a game like Clicktoy is a great starting tool for young children to get familiarized with a computer.