Parental Control Guide: Keeping your Kids Safe Online

The use of technology is growing at an incomparably faster rate. Although it’s making all sorts of information available on finger tips but shockingly, establishing a very dangerous landscape via internet!

This era is surrounded by gadgets and devices and internet. Everything has become virtual. It has eased many complex things for us. Like every other source, it has advantages as well as disadvantages. The most threatening disadvantage of internet is parents losing control over kids because of the use of internet.

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Why you need to use parental controls?

Internet has become a necessity for people, in offices, educational institutes as well as houses. It has been welcomed ever since for leading humans into the information age, but gradually disclosed another side by providing illicit content, and increased criminal activities.

Every age group is using it with a much higher comfort level, especially children. Parenting is a serious responsibility. Parents prioritize their child’s security, many even want to limit the access to such devices. But if your kid has a well-developed interest with internet devices, then it may become impossible. However, some steps can definitely help you regulate the content accessible to your child. Children’s frequent use of internet may cause health issues for them.

Considering internet devices as a necessity, it is important that we prepare our children for a digital future. That can initially be done by coaching them about the etiquettes of using internet. They are pretty similar to how we teach them to behave and interact in public, with a major focus on not to talk to strangers. This can be possible if they are taught to make right decisions.

Related source: Cyberbullying Guide for Parents

                            Stop bullying

Healthy habits that encourage safe internet use:

1.   Guide children about the security concerns you have regarding their internet use including cyberbullying, scamming, hackers etc. This will alert children about the dangers of using the internet devices

2.   Keep a positive relationship with your child plays an essential role, children can themselves share whom they are communicating with

3.   Set rules and discuss with your kids how and when to use the internet devices like setting ‘no mobile during dinner time’ or ‘no mobile in bed’. Such rules can be very effective

4.   Be consistent in being strict. Make sure you implement rules and ensure all kids follow it regularly like if you allow kids to use device for a certain time limit, make sure you take it back at the exact time, without any arguments

5.   If children require devices for educational use, monitor there activities and make sure they are not multitasking by spending time on social media, chatting or playing games

6.   Test your kids for ‘self-regulation’, by observing how they behave when no parental controls are enforced. Revise rules and precautions from time to time

Types of Parental Control apps and How they work

Since the concerns arising daily including stories of cyberbullying and hacking, technological solutionsmust be utilized by using parental controls to protect your child while they are using internet. There are various types of parental controls available now, varying for each device. Some devices have exclusive settings to provide standard options for parental control, and some paid applications have demonstrated positive results. Although some applications can be expensive and complicated to use, they provide in-depth features to monitor your child’s activities. 

 

Using parental control for maximum benefit is a process. Parental control software and applications help you manage screen time, block inappropriate content and monitor your child’s behavior online.

There are several approaches to strategize your parental control efforts:

1.   Control the time children spend online:

This feature helps you control how much time your child spends on internet, on a particular device or using a specific application and surely you can decide how much time your child should spend on internet device. Devices shut-down after the set time

2.   Monitor location of your children:

By using GPS and other tools, you can monitor where your child is and also get notified if they move out of the set boundaries so you can take immediate steps to get in touch with them

3.   Content Filters:

Applying content filters will control your child’s access to inappropriate content. Various applications including YouTube and Google have the options to activate them free of cost

4.   Content Monitoring & Reporting:

This feature helps you monitor what your children are accessing, and also provides weekly reports

Are parental control apps secure?

Yes, they are secure. The technical teams surely put their best efforts to make sure their applications are secure along with being user-friendly.

 

Balance is the key, you should must maintain balance in relying on these applications and manually monitoring your children. However, while selecting which application would be more appropriate, take the following points into consideration:

1.   It should be cost-effective; you don’t need to go beyond your budget

2.   It should provide cross-platform support

3.   It should fulfill multiple purposes like time scheduling for internet usage and activity tracking

4.   It should provide location tracking

5.   It should be easy to manage

Recommended Parental Control Software

There are two applications that I consider highly recommendable:

1.   Kaspersky Safe Kid:

This feature comes with Kaspersky Total Security. It will help you vigilantly manage how your child is using the device by monitoring incoming & outgoing texts and calls. It’s real-time location tracking and notifications will not only track your child’s location but also alert you promptly. It is also featured in pcmag’s list of ‘Best Parental Control Apps’  

2.   Bit-defender Parental Advisory:

It will make browsing much safer for your children by keeping illicit content away. It focuses on your child’s communication by ensuring only trusted contacts are contacting and immediately blocking incoming calls that are without Caller ID. It will also monitor and track activities on Windows, macOS, Android & iOS.

Parenting Control Options in devices:

Most devices have their parental control settings. Although they are free but can sometimes be time consuming to apply or may not provide complete set of features. Apple’s applications are relatively safer as its applications are strictly checked before they are added into application store.

Related source:

How social media is harming your mental health

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Keep Your Family Safe On The Internet

Did you know that online scams are on the rise? In fact, studies show that a worrying 26 percent of consumers have already been victims of frauds on the Internet. Scams are getting more complex and difficult to recognize, which is why you need to talk to your family about online safety. Everyone needs to know how to recognize a scam and how they can protect themselves.

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Protect Your Privacy

Teach your children not to share personal information online, and share this advice with your parents and older relatives as well. Your parents are likely to be more trusting and might not think that the Internet users they interact with are not who they pretend to be.

Help your relatives adjust their social media settings so that their profile and the information they share remains private. Did you know that burglars will check social media to see who is going away on vacation?

Secure Your Devices

Your laptop and Smartphone need a good antivirus. Not all your relatives are tech-savvy enough to choose an antivirus and install it. Take a few minutes to check the laptops and phones used by your children and older relatives and install an antivirus if needed. If they use an Android phone, check this page for a list of quality antivirus programs.

Think About Using A VPN

Hackers can access the information you share and receive whenever you use an unsecured connection. This is a risk you shouldn’t neglect since you might use an unsecured Wifi hotspot when you browse the Internet with your phone while you are on the go.

You can use a VPN to automatically encrypt everything you do online. Install one of these programs on the computers and phones of your family members to protect their information.

Learn To Recognize Fake Emails

Phishing emails are commonly used by scammers to steal login credentials and personal information. These emails usually look like they come from a bank or a retailer and ask you to follow a link to log in or enter personal information. Make sure everyone in your family is aware of this practice and knows how to find the email address of the sender. As a rule of thumb, recommend that they don’t follow suspicious links and make sure they understand that banks, retailers, and other institutions won’t send emails to request information.

Keep your children and older relatives safe by talking to them about common scams. Take a few minutes to install antivirus programs and other software on the devices they use to protect their privacy.

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Best Educational Apps for Kids

In today’s generation, kids have more access to information more than ever. With the internet being more accessible to everyone, information can now be received just a few clicks away. Along with information being accessible, education has also improved. More children around the world have access to the best education available out there. With more and more children having access to the internet, it is important that this should be used for productive activities. One of the best ways to keep your children productive is by using apps. To keep your child productive and educated at the same time, here are some of the best educational apps for your children.

Flow

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One of the more popular mobile games on this list, Flow is a simple but engaging puzzle game that taps into your child’s spatial and analysis skills. The goal of the game is to connect two lines of the same color in a grid. The puzzles start out as simple, and as the game progresses, it gets more challenging. With lots of levels and challenging gameplay, Flow is a game that your child will enjoy.

Drawing Pad

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If you want your child to tap into his artistic and creative side, then this app will definitely help hone those skills. Drawing Pad is a nice way to have your child do some drawings and painting, minus the mess that would come with actual art supplies. This app lets your child develop their art skills, which helps in the child’s creative thinking skills and focus. Although simple, Drawing Pad is an app that can provide enjoyment, and artistic expression at the same time.

iStoryBooks

Photo Courtesy: play.google.com

Having your child spend time reading is always a good activity, and a great way to get your children interested is by have them read stories. Having children read stories can improve their reading and understanding skills. iStoryBooks is an app that gives you some of the most popular children’s stories in a single place. With colorful and lively illustrations, even voice narration, this app can give your child a fun and productive time reading which they will enjoy. 

Hooked on Phonics

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If you want a fun and entertaining app that also helps develop your child’s reading and grammar skills, then Hooked on Phonics is the app your child would enjoy. The app provides a wide variety of lessons, games, and songs that help your child learn basic reading, grammar, and phonetics skills. The lessons contained in the app are progressive, which means that your child progresses through these games and activities as he/she improves their skills.

PBS Kids Video

Photo Courtesy: pbskids.org/apps/

With more children interested in watching videos from the internet nowadays, it is best to have them watch videos that they can learn from. PBS Kids Video offers a wide selection of educational cartoon videos that offer a large variety of lessons. Parents can also monitor the videos that their kids are watching through a parental tracker. With a good amount informative content available at your child’s fingertips, this app will help them learn, while also be entertained at the same time.

As mentioned earlier, with the diversity of information children can get from the internet, it is best to make sure that they are getting the ones that help them become productive and help them hone their skills. These apps would not only entertain your children, but also educate them as they learn new information and skills.

About the Author:

Esther Diaz

A 22-year-old graduate of graphic design, DIY enthusiast, make-up lover and has a love-hate relationship with desserts. I dream to be soon one of the known bloggers.

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