3 Things To Consider Before Selecting A Parental Control App For Your Kids’ Devices

My husband and I are fairly old-school when it comes to allowing our children to use devices. We encourage a great deal of outside time, reading, and imaginary play, but both my preschooler and 7 year old have access to my old iPad and their own kid-friendly tablets, as well as our desktop.

The need to install parental controls hadn’t crossed my mind until my older son had a play date recently and the boys asked to look at videos on YouTube Kids. Even with YouTube Kids, curious little minds can still access material that’s not age-appropriate, and I realized that I would need to personally monitor what they were searching for as I didn’t have restrictions or filters set. Maybe you’ve experienced a situation where your child accessed material on a device at a friend’s home that you weren’t comfortable with or you realized your child knew how to use the search functions a little too well.

These are such important issues to discuss openly as a family. In my search to implement boundaries for my children’s devices, these three factors surfaced as the most relevant.

Age Of Child

Consider what sites you’re comfortable with your child accessing and think about replacing your browser with a kid-friendly browser (Kiddle or KidRex). Some devices have built-in parental controls, so you may not necessarily need an app to monitor. A friend with older tweens and teens (with their own iPhones) suggested using settings to restrict 14+ content, limiting games to 1 hr per day, and scheduled downtime. If you have an Android device, you can download the Family Link and create a Google account for your child. Set limits on usage and content, require permission for downloads and keep track of the device location. Apps such as Bark (iOS, Android and Amazon mobile devices) can monitor your child’s social media and texts for a monthly fee.

Location

Will your young child use the device only within the home or do you have a teen always on the go? My 1st grader uses my older iPad for games and Netflix, as well as our desktop to play games, so monitoring is mainly confined to our household area. If your children use their devices primarily within your home, Circle w/ Disney (IOS and Android) may be a good option. Circle manages the devices on your home network and monitors devices connected to the wifi in your home (including friends or babysitters connected to your wifi). Set up profiles for each family member with individual age-appropriate filters using the Circle app. Basic services are free or a premium paid subscription is available. A family with a new driver would benefit from Life360 (iOS and Android), a location tracking app that also reinforces safe driving.

Flexibility of App

If you have multiple devices being used among family members, flexibility of features is a must. I love Qustodio (available on Android, IOS, Kindle and Nook) for its usefulness on desktops, laptops, phones or tablet. From the Qustodio app on my cell phone, I’m able to see what my 1st grader has been viewing on the iPad and his daily screen time. Daily time limits, restricted times and web filtering are all free services that I utilize (premium paid services add games & apps, call and text monitoring location and social  media monitoring). The daily time limits are easily adjustable; more time can be added for a weekend day or less for a school night. Time restrictions and filters on the app are simple to modify, too. 

While the thought of selecting a parental control app can be overwhelming, first think about what you want to accomplish. Talk as a family about how screen time can be constructive and make sure your kids understand the boundaries. Help your children make thoughtful choices about safely using their devices by keeping communication open!

What tools do you find most helpful for monitoring your kids’ devices?

Lauren Davis
Lauren and her husband Dan live in El Dorado with their two boys (born 2011 and 2014). They have added a goldendoodle, a hedgehog and two cats to their family in recent years and are expecting a daughter to join their crew at the end of 2020! She is an elementary school secretary, a member of the Junior League of Wichita and the Tri-County CASA Board of Directors. Lauren spent much of her childhood in Lawrence, Kansas and moved to El Dorado about ten years ago after her husband graduated from pharmacy school. She gets by on a lot of coffee and loves all the messy, fun, wild and wonderful parts of being a mom.