How to Kid-Proof Your Tech at Home

Everyone loves to learn new things and watch funny cat videos on the internet, but not all content is safe for children to watch. The online world can be a scary place, and you want to keep your children away from that as best as you can.

It is hard to control what your children are watching all of the time when you’re not looking. But there are ways in which you can take parental control of the applications they use and websites that they connect to.

 

Mobile devices

There are several parental locks on mobile devices, and it all begins where you download applications. Parents can set a password and keep it away from their children to prevent them from downloading applications that are meant for adults. This also prevents them from using your credit card information to make in-app purchases.

Downloading applications that are meant for children are great options. They often come with parental locks and allow parents to have access to any content that their child is viewing. There is often a screen-time feature in your settings that allows you to restrict content by rating. This includes websites and even ebooks.

 

Surfing the web

It’s so easy for a child to stumble upon a website that contains explicit content. This is why parental controls must be set up on each device that the child uses in order to prevent this from happening. Parental controls can be set up on any device that connects to a browser.

The limitations can often be set up in the settings of the browser itself. You may need to login or create a login to the browser in order to control the settings. This also means that the browser settings will be password protected and can not be removed unless the child knows your password. You can restrict websites by the rating or even using keywords.

 

Streaming

Streaming is great, since you get to watch the content you want to watch when you want it. The large streaming companies have built platforms for children that automatically filter out explicit or mature-rated content. These controls can be setup in the applications and controlled by the owner of the account.

This is especially important, because faster internet speeds from the upcoming National Broadband Network (NBN) are going to make streaming more popular, and your children and their friends will likely stream more. The NBN is striving to transform the way we use the internet in Australia and help create a better online experience for each user. Visit iSelect to compare the best NBN plans to suit your family needs so that you can stream with ease.

 

Final notes

The internet can be a scary place when children get into adult content. Keep your kids safe and explore all of the parental controls that your devices have to offer. Each device has child locks built in to the system to help keep your children safe. These parental locks are not often advertised, but they can typically be found in your settings.

Always ensure that there are safe search parameters on your devices that can access websites. This ensures that your children are not reading, watching, or playing with content that can be harmful. Be sure to check and see if there are child friendly versions of streaming applications or parental controls within the streaming applications so that you can keep mature content out of your children’s view.