Everyone finds the Internet as an interesting place, especially kids and teens. Almost anything can be accessed via the internet, and it has almost no regulations. The simple search for explicit material on Google or typing the wrong web address may lead straight to it, to which they are not yet prepared.
For example, if anyone visited, let's say, "www.xyz.com," then sometimes there may be the case where you may redirect to the website containing adult content. Viewing such websites while surfing the Internet can disturb your children mentally.
To give your child a safe space to explore their curiosity online, get your hands on parental control software. As per the Pew Research Center
- 39% of parents use parental controls for blocking, filtering, or monitoring their teen's activities online.
- 16% use parental controls to restrict their teen's usage of cell phones.
- 16% use to track the location of their teens.
Now you may be thinking, what is parental control? Do you need parental control? Do they really work? How can you install parental controls on apps, computers, or devices? Here's the article that covers everything you need to know about parental control solutions, from OS settings to monitoring apps to network hardware.
What are Parental Controls?
Parental control is the feature or software that allows you to restrict other people from viewing unnecessary content, sites, videos, or accessing any apps that may hamper them. In other words, parental control is also known as parental lock or kid lock, which lets you control what content your kids can see. Here are a few things you can do with parental controls.
- Block or filters websites or contents
- Record child's activities online
- Limit their time online
- View their browser history and communication
With parental controls, you can prevent the younger member from viewing or accessing the things they should not see or experience online.
Why do parents need parental control?
In the present context, where everything is digitizing rapidly, the children spend more time online. They find the internet world much more fascinating than the real environment around them.
Their curiosity always leads to exploring new things or tapping on the sites or advertisements they find attractive, which may be the gateway of many online frauds. They are too innocent and young to analyze whether tapping or browsing such advertisements is good or not.
Moreover, they may get exposed to pornography or end up viewing adult and inappropriate content, which you, as parents, obviously do not want your children to view. With parental control, you can
- Keep track of your child's online activity
- Manage what your child finds on search engine
- Limit downloads to keep your device safe
- Track your kid's location
- Set online screen time limits
- Block certain features of the game from accessing it by your child
- Restrict purchases or place spending limits on online
Thus, parental control helps you to create a better scenario for parenting your child and keep an eye on your child, especially when you are not physically able to supervise what your children are doing online.
The Best Parental Control Devices to Monitor Kids Smartphones
TigerMom
TigerMom is the parental control Wi-Fi router that helps you control apps, set the internet access time limit, and block and filter harmful content. It partners with Trustlook to create a truly safe and reliable parental control Wi-Fi router product.
It prevents your children from being too addicted to mobile phones and other electronic devices, at the same time blocking a wide range of negative information, violent, pornographic content, gambling, and phishing websites online, protecting children's physical and mental health from irreparable harm.
Features:
- Quick and easy setup
- Works on Wi-Fi, Android, and iOS
- Free for lifetime
- Safer online search
- Block inappropriate websites
- Applications control
Pros:
- Helps to implement restrictions on the use of 21 popular applications, including Tiktok, Netflix, YouTube, Facebook, and the games including StarCraft, World of Warcraft.
- Allows to set a curfew for children to help them maintain good habits by locking their devices during bedtime
- Uses powerful automated filtering technology to filter out pornographic and other criminal or adult related content that may appear in google search results
- Allows to analyze and monitor the internet time statistics
Cons:
- Occasional connectivity issues
- Sometimes conflict may occur with the router
Pricing:
TigerMom offers two flexible pricing plans.
- TigerMom Box Free
- TigerMom subscription costs $4.99 per month
Note: Check out TigerMom for more pricing details.
Meet circle
Meet circle, a device managed by an iOS app that enables you to choose how you and your family spend time online and helps you analyze and monitor internet usage by using advanced filtering and time management systems. It helps you to balance your family's lives in the screen-driven world.
Features:
- Quick and easy setup
- Works on Wi-Fi, Android, and iOS
- Filter online content
- Set limit screen time
- Internet and website filtering
- Manage or block apps
- Monitoring online activity
Pros:
- Set a bedtime for your family's devices
- Allow to check out where your family spends time online
- Help to view and keep a record of sites your child visited
Cons:
- Expensive
- Require knowledge of the technology
- Lacks top features such as geofencing
Pricing:
- Three months’ subscription costs $69
- A one-year subscription costs $129
- Lifetime subscription costs $349
Note: Check out Meet circle for more pricing details.
The best Parental Control Software For Kids Smartphones
Fenced.ai
Fenced.ai is the best parental control software to keep your kids safe online. It helps you to secure and safeguard your children from negative digital exposure. There are several parental control apps available in the market.
Among them, Fenced.ai is the most powerful monitoring application that enables you to create a digitally safe home environment for you and yourself.
Features:
- Keep track of calls, SMS, and contacts
- Photos and videos monitoring
- Social media monitoring and management
- Monitor and keep track of screen time, installed application, and browser history
- Determine apps usage
- Great alert system (Geofence alert, keyword alert, Uninstall alert, Wi-Fi change alert)
Pros:
- Free version and demo available
- Easy and simple setup
- Great user interface
- Allow you to control device activity remotely
- Sets time limits
- Filter adult content in real-time
- Display the current location of your child
Cons:
Limited features in the free version
Not so advanced geofencing feature
Pricing:
- Fenced.ai offers three flexible pricing plans.
- Free version
- Basic version for $9.99 per month
- Premium version for $19.99 per month
Note: Price may vary depending on the number of devices you may use. Check out Fenced.ai for more pricing details.
Bark.us
Bark.us is another parental control software whose main concern is to detect cyber-bullying and monitor online safety. It also helps you to analyze and monitor all your child's online activities, monitor text, and images, along with YouTube and over 30 social media networks.
There is an alert feature in Bark.us that sends an alert message to parents whenever it detects a sign of cyber-bullying, depression, online predators, adult content, and more.
Features:
- Analyze and monitors over 30+ apps and social media
- Web filtering and Detect cyber-bullying
- Screen time monitoring
- Alert system
- Monitors call and SMS
- Block inappropriate content
Pros:
- Affordable
- Available 7 days’ free trial
- Easy and simple to use
- Helps you to monitor text and emails
Cons:
- No free version
- Unnecessary alerts
- Tricky iOS installation
Pricing:
Besides seven days of free trials, Brak.us also provides two flexible pricing plans.
- Bark premium costs $14 per month ($99 annually).
- Bark Jr costs $5 per month ($49 annually).
Note: check out Bark.us for more pricing details.
Parental Control Guide to Internet Filters
Internet filter is the software or computer program which implies restrictions or blocks a certain website from viewing or accessing it as there is some content on the Internet that you as a parent do not want your child to see.
There is some parental control software available for internet filters in the market. Some of them are listed below:
DNS filter
The DNS filter is fully API-driven. DNS filters make it easy to protect your users from security threats and undesirable content. All you need to do is to provide your network information and what categories of websites you would like to restrict from accessing or viewing.
DNS filters machine learning algorithms analyze requested domains in real-time, keeping your child safe by stopping more threats and from being the victims of online phishing.
Features:
- User-friendly design
- Web content filtering
- Generates activity reports, security threats reports, and query log
- Fully API-driven
- Compatibility with Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, ChromeOS
Pros:
- Easy software to use
- Reliable and responsive interface
- Supports two-factor authentication
- Great web security
Cons:
- Lack of transparency when choosing a particular category to block
- Sometimes hard to determine the cause of the problem
- Improvement in reporting is needed
Pricing:
- Offers 14 days’ free trials
- The basic plan starts at $20 per month
- The pro plan starts at $50 per month
Note: Check DNS filter for more pricing details
NetCut
NetCut is a software that provides a solution for helping you to admin your network based only on ARP protocol. It can execute several tasks such as list the IP-MAC table in seconds, turn off & on the network on any computer within your LAN, including any device like router or switcher.
NetCut is easy and simple to use. With a single click, you can protect your child from accessing unwanted sites. NetCut protects its users from ARF spoof attacks.
Features:
- Network monitoring
- Network defender
- Lock/unlock Wi-Fi
- Fast/slow scan mode
Pros:
- Free
- Easy to use
- Allows you to keep unwanted users away from networks
- Low system required
Cons:
- Outdated design
- Web interface only
- Ads in free version
- No offline documentation
Pricing:
- Free version available
- The pro plan costs $30 per year
Besides using parental control software for internet filters, you can block some inappropriate websites on the router or ask ISP to block websites or implement OpenDNS.
For blocking websites on the router
- You can connect your router to your browser's window using the default address. The default addresses are usually 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.01, but sometimes it may be different. So firstly, confirm your default address with your service provider.
- Search either for the URL filters or Parental Controls, or Firewalls in settings under the Security, Parental Control, or Firewall tab, depending on which router you use.
- The URL filters allow you to block or restrict websites on Chrome.
The Parental Controls option not only allows you to block the websites on Chrome but also allows you to specify the time when the Internet can be accessed.
The Firewall option allows you to restrict the website by entering the URL. - Lastly, reboot the router for the saves changes to take place.
Ask ISP to block websites
The internet connection, which we use in our home, is provided by ISP. The ISP that brings the internet connection to your home may offer parental controls, web filter, content filter, and other screen time management features.
Every ISP has its unique feature, so make sure you contact your ISP to use their control app for restricting the adult-content website from viewing it.
By implementing OpenDNS on Android
- Navigate to your phone's settings and click on "Wi-Fi connections" or "Network and Internet."
- Open the Wi-Fi section and tap the gear icon beside your home's Wi-Fi.
- Tap on "Advanced" and change the IP settings to static from DHCP
- Now enter the IP address and DNS 1 and DNS 2 as follows:
a. IP Address: 192.168. 1.105
b. DNS 1: 208.67.222.123
c. DNS 2: 208.67.220.123 - Click save, then turn Wi-Fi off and on.
Final thoughts:
In the digital world, parental control software is an absolute lifesaver for many parents out there. Every parent is busy with their work and other household chores, and they might ignore or forget to watch their child's activity online.
In such cases, parental control apps are way beneficial for every parent as it helps to keep track of their child's activities online, monitor app usage and block some inappropriate websites from viewing it.
If you still have not got your hands on parental control apps, what are you waiting for? Get yourself introduced to some parental control apps before it is too late to control your child.
- Details
- Written by Guest Poster
- Created: 10 August 2021
