Current era’s children are going online at a younger and younger age on a variety of devices. They spend much more time online, but what are the ways to achieve parental control?
Kids are on the Internet and social media, play more games online, and use smartphone apps, mostly without parental supervision. Artificial intelligence enhanced communication and augmented and virtual reality can significantly impact how children communicate and interact with society. Just consider the YouTube video suggestion algorithm and how it can affect children.
Although the Internet provides many opportunities for learning, networking, innovation, and media, it also exposes vulnerable users, such as kids, to certain risks.
Therefore, internet protection for children is a hot topic among parents these days. What steps do you take to ensure your child’s online safety? The Internet is like a global extension of your community, and your child has access to all there is to see, both good and bad. Kids have gone beyond family devices as increasingly of them have access to smartphones or tablets. Both of these ties can be enough to make a parent nervous. Thankfully, there are steps you may take to assist your child in navigating the online environment and identifying possible dangers.
What to do to ensure online safety for your kids?
With the “Parental Control” options provided by Windows, you can monitor any user you want and choose what days and hours you can sign into the computer if you’re running Windows 7 or higher. Straightforwardly from Windows’ website, you can see how to do it step by step.
On iPhones and iPads:
The first of methods is when your child has a favorite game that he or she wants to play, but you do not want it to access images, the Internet, or other apps outside of the game, though. You can use the Guided Access option following the Settings, General, Accessibility buttons in this scenario.
If you open the application and press the middle button three times after it has been activated, you will be asked some questions, such as where you cannot click, how long you can stay only in this app, and so on. You can now give it to your child with comfort after setting a password to exit this mode. When your child wants to exit this configuration, they will be requested for a password, and if the password is not managed to enter, the child mode will not be disembarked.
There is an under Settings General Restrictions menu. You can follow another method. Numerous specifics, such as which apps will be allowed to access and what types of media will be made available, can be chosen when the Enable Restrictions option is chosen. You can also monitor your child’s phone this way. It will not be feasible to drop this mode until the password you specified is entered.
On Android phones and tablets:
You can regulate which apps this newly created user can access by creating a new user after Settings Users. It is possible to control with a password yet again.
Possible methods for all platforms are available in their stores. You can also get different options by contacting your internet service providers’ contact center to safeguard the Internet straightforwardly. The above are the first ideas that come to mind. They are quite simple to apply.
Look for trustworthy video channels
Instead of “YouTube,” for example, you could try “YouTube Kids.” Before a video is broadcast on YouTube Kids, it is checked to see if it is appropriate for children.
Try to monitor what your child is choosing to watch online. At the same time, don’t forget to tell them that these are fictional characters.
Check out “Jellies,” a children’s video app. According to some research, this app does not contain any advertisements and only contains content that may be beneficial to children.
Try Using VPN
Children are quick to pick up new skills, especially when it comes to using Internet-connected devices. They are, nevertheless, totally unaware of malware, cyberbullying, identity fraud, monitoring, fraudulent activities, and a slew of other online dangers. As a result, it’s critical to teach them about the positive and negative aspects of the Internet and why healthy online behavior is so crucial. You can make your internet flow more secure and verify all pages’ security by using a VPN. Look at the list of best free VPN providers by Kate Hawkins to see if VPN for kids’ safety is feasible for you.
Children Safety Apps
The Parental Control Bar app is a free service parent control software that assists worried parents in keeping their children away from adult-oriented internet sites.
How Does It Work?
When your child tries to access a website, the toolbar tests to see if it is self-labeled, and after that compares it with your parental configurations to evaluate whether to block or allow access. If the site isn’t self-labeled, the toolbar looks through a long list of 3rd-party tags to determine whether to disable or enable it. Mother and father can also assign different websites to an ‘always blocked’ or ‘always allowed’ list using the toolbar.
Mobicip is a cloud-based filtering service that helps you set up safe Internet for your children, school, or company. With a Mobicip account, you can configure the internet filtering and track your browsing history through various tablets, smartphones, and laptops.
How Does It Work?
Mobicip is an app that can be installed on virtually any computer. It can be configured as the browser on your iPhone or Android phone by removing Safari and Chrome. Mobicip uses age-based filters, and you can limit the user’s age range or set it to Reports function to see what your kids are looking for and seeing on the Internet.