What Every Parent Needs to Know About Online Parental Controls

Some days I feel like the internet is a gift sent from heaven… and some days I feel like we’ve opened up a portal from hell.  Let’s be honest, I really love being able to reach out to get any information I want but I hate the fact that other people can reach back in, especially when it comes to my kids.

It would be great if there was a universal switch to keep kids safe but alas, no such luck. Instead, most parents I speak with are looking to parental controls, and more specifically monitoring tools,  to help guide kids and provide insight on how kids are spending their time online.

Is A Monitoring Tool Right For Your Family?

Ask yourself these questions:

• Could your child stumble on inappropriate content by accident (especially very young kids)?
• Does your child spend too much time online?
• Is your child too trusting, or naïve enough, to fall prey to a scam?
• Do you need to know who they are talking to?
• Do you feel they are at risk of hurting themselves or others by being online?

Ultimately all kids need to learn good digital citizenship so they can be safe and effective online. But if you answered yes to any of the questions above, and your child has yet to earn that trust from you, then a monitoring tool is a good solution.

Monitoring, Managing, and Blocking

Despite the fact that we refer to ‘monitoring’ tools,  there are actually 3 different functions that they provide.

Monitoring: These tools watch your child’s online activity. Some forward you the online content your kids create (eg. photos, emails) while others report to you on the calculated risks (eg. ‘We suspect your child is interacting with someone risky”).

Managing: Online addiction is a serious problem and can cause numerous health issues. To help mitigate this, managing tools allow you to set limits on time online, time on certain sites, or time using the device all together.

Blocking: Best for younger kids that need shielding from adult content, these tools block websites or tagged adult content. You can set your own blacklist or use lists provided.

Available tools

Before spending a dime, it is worth checking out all of your free options. Tablets, Laptops, and computers (Microsoft or Mac OS) have child protection built in that include both blocking and managing tools.

Many services, like Google and YouTube, also offer blocking.

To find more of these free services, just search “parental controls” and the name of your device or operating system in any search engine.

For extra features, you can purchase either software or hardware. Software tools are installed on a device and work anywhere. Hardware tools plug in to your router and only work in your house. 

These are the leading favourites from internet experts and tech savvy parents.

A Complete Solution

I believe monitoring and blocking has a place for kids but I also firmly believe that most important thing is you, guiding them on how to best behave online. Without your guidance, it is like teaching children to drive by installing GPS in their car. Will it help them get to their destination? Yes. But it won’t teach them how to be a good citizen on the road. No matter what tools you decide you may want to use, be sure to sit down with your kids and talk to them about what they are using.

Get started by reading up on my guide on having that important conversation with your kids, and check out some of the latest popular apps kids are using today. 

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