Protecting your kids from digital dangers during the Coronavirus
The coronavirus has canceled schools across the country sending parents scrambling to figure out what to do with their children while they’re stuck at home. With no sports to watch on TV and libraries, stores, restaurants being closed, extracurricular activities canceled, there’s nowhere to go and not much to do. Kids will resort to their phones, tablets, and computers for entertainment. Do you know what your kids are doing while online?
It’s important for parents to monitor and know what their children are doing online and also who they may be talking to. With kids being stuck at home, they’re likely to resort to their devices for entertainment. Simple steps can be taken to help protect your child from some of the dangers online and give you, as a parent, a little bit of breathing room. While these steps below are not foolproof and there are still other dangers that exist, you can at least know your child is more protected than not. Either way, you should still set ground rules for device usage and monitor all online activities to verify your child’s safety.
For Apple users: Apple’s website walks you through how to set up various privacy controls and parental settings on your child’s device. Apple’s parental controls will allow parents to set content and privacy restrictions, prevent iTunes and app store purchases, allow built-in apps and features, prevent explicit content and set content ratings, prevent certain web content, restrict Siri or web searches, and restrict game center. Using Apple’s Screen Time feature will also allow parents to monitor your child’s device usage. Make sure to also check your child’s Internet searches and verify he or she is not purposely or accidentally visiting explicit content websites or chat rooms.
For Android users: you’ll want to visit and set up Google Play’s parental controls. Samsung also has the Kids Home feature on certain Galaxy devices. Kids Home is like a digital playground for your child that provides a fun, kid-friendly and educational experience and allows games like block coding, drawing, creating music, and more. Parents can set a time limit, control permissions, and see usage reports to see what your child is learning.
If you’re still not satisfied and want additional protection, there are third-party software applications that can allow additional monitoring of your child’s device. While many of these sites are paid subscriptions, they offer much tighter security and monitoring of your child’s device usage. Many of them also have a trial period so you can try the software out to see what works best for you and your family before purchasing or subscribing. Some of these sites allow for GPS location tracking, monitoring your child’s text messages (even if they’re deleted), their Internet browsing history (even if deleted), phone calls, app downloads, app usage, social media tracking, and more.
Whatever you choose to do — whether it’s just using the built-in settings on your child’s device or using more stringent paid subscription methods, you should still monitor your child’s activity and be aware of possible malicious apps, apps that allow too many permissions such as camera, microphone, location, etc., and especially social media apps where you may not know who your child is talking to. Always double-check the apps your children are installing, what they are, what they allow, and any warnings about them.
