Parental Controls

Kids are growing up with technology all around them, in some cases, the kids are better at using the devices than the adults. This leads to children having full access to the uncensored internet.

The internet is a great tool for learning when you find quality content that has reasonable sources, the flip side to that is the internet also rich with fake and malicious content. Not to mention the mature content that is made for adults, kids should have guard rails that prevent them from harmful content.

I made this post to outline some parental controls I enabled for my kids. The devices I configured were a Samsung Smart TV, Nintendo Switch, Amazon Fire Kids tablet, and two Windows 10 PC’s.

Samsung Smart TV

The main thing we had to control on the TV was access to YouTube. We let the kids watch a few Youtube channels with our supervision. Without control, the kids were watching when we were busy and stumbling into content not appropriate for them. I put a pin on the Youtube app and only let them watch when adults can monitor.

Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch has a smartphone app that allows a parent to control the Switch. I installed the Switch Parental Controls app on my iPhone. Now the Switch can be used for 30 minutes a day, if my son has finished homework and chores, more time can be allowed from the app.

Amazon Fire Kids tablet

This tablet had onboard parental controls, I added a 30 minute a day time limit for my younger son. This has worked well for him and he uses his tablet for 30 minutes a day at most.

Windows 10

I made a Microsoft account for both of my kids, I manage the account and have not included any personal details about them on the account besides their first names. This account controls their Windows 10 computers, they can only use them in a time period defined by me. They can request more time on weekends and I get a notification on my computer and email. I can select how much more time to give them in the notification.

The modern home has a lot of technology devices with the number of devices growing. Giving a child the entire information of the internet may confuse them in harmful ways. Learn about the settings for your devices and enable the parental controls available. In most cases the parental controls are free. Contact me if you need help, The Cyber Staff can be hired to help you set up parental controls.