I just learned about a great software called Freedom that will lock down your computer so you can't do anything other than write. It's designed for authors who get distracted by the internets and can't finish their books. Here is a link to a review at download.cnet.com:
http://download.cnet.com/Freedom/3000-2648_4-10912674.html

DS8 asked for a laptop for his birthday this year so we picked up an inexpensive Toshiba laptop from the refurbished shelves at BestBuy. I added a one-year warranty, figuring that was enough time to see how well he would physically handle it; he's pretty hard on stuff still. His laptop has a touch screen which is AMAZING on a laptop; it makes it much nicer to use and is a nice segue from his Nabi tablet (kids' tablet). We love it and like Dude's family, everyone shares computers.

He self-regulates inappropriate sites; we talk about the need to be careful with spelling (whitehouse.com vs .gov, for example) and to google it first. We're pretty open with information here and he is free to ask questions about anything, and get an honest answer.

All computers in our house are in the living room so everything is "monitored" by everyone. We keep an eye on his computer use but he's mostly using it with one of us anyway (video games) OR he is running a play-by-play. Sometimes both...simultaneously...GAH! We have "quiet time" also, where we will curl up together and read.