Internet safety has never been so important as it is today, as many hackers and fraudsters are now using very sophisticated means to get our private information from us. But it’s not just ourselves who we need to think about protecting. If your children go online and have their own smartphones and tablets, you need to consider their safety as well. And there is no better way than setting up online parental controls.
What exactly are parental controls? Well, they are tools that let you decide exactly what your children can and can’t see when they are browsing the Internet. They are relatively easy to set up, but to help you get started, here is our handy guide to the different ones available.
Home Broadband Parental Controls
Lots of broadband providers understand just how important children’s online safety and security is to parents. As a result, many now provide parental controls that can easily be applied while kids are surfing online. You can block specific sites as well as block certain keywords and phrases in search engine results. One of the main benefits of these broadband controls is that any device connected to the router or hotspot will be affected, so you don’t have to turn them on on each individual device.
Netflix Parental Controls
Kids love Netflix, as they can watch whatever they want whenever they want. Unfortunately, there are a lot of R-rated shows and movies on there, and they could end up watching something that they shouldn’t! These Disney movies are coming to Netflix soon, and you can always direct them to them. But you never know when your child could just click elsewhere! So, it’s a good idea to set up a child’s account linked to your Netflix account. When you are logged into your child’s account, you will only be shown age-appropriate shows and movies.
Phone And Tablet Parental Controls
You will have surely heard horror stories about kids accidently ordering games and apps on their parent’s smartphones or tablets, and ringing up a bill worth hundreds of dollars! This is definitely something that you will need to control! Thankfully, there are various parental controls you can apply to your devices. The best thing you can do is to set up a password that needs to be entered to confirm each purchase. You can also apply age restrictions in the app store so that only age-appropriate games and apps are shown in the search results.
YouTube Parental Controls
Did you know that 69% of YouTube users are aged between 8 and 11? To make sure all these young users don’t end up watching inappropriate videos, the website has now set up YouTube Kids. Created by Google, this app ensures that no nasty videos pop up when kids search for videos. All of the buttons and links in the app are also much bigger than on the website, making it easier for children to use on a device.
Don’t risk your child going online without these controls – who knows what they might see?!