3 Tools to Manage Your Child’s Online Experience

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Managing your child’s online experience can be a daunting task.  New apps, sites, and games are constantly vying for your child’s attention.  And since children use them much more than you do, they know much more about them than you (which can be scary).

Below is a list of tools that we’ve found helpful.  Note that these are only tools — they’re not a complete solution by themselves.  They all follow the same format:  create an account for you (the parent or guardian) and then create children accounts that live under your parent account.  And you’ll want to make sure your parent password is secure.  Children are cleverer than you think! 😊

Microsoft Family

For PC Users the best solution is Microsoft Family.  We both us this solution in our households.

Highlights:

  • Manage multiple PCs with the same account logins
  • Screen time limits on computers and XBOX
  • Allocate spending limits and restrict games based upon ratings
  • Receive a weekly report with your child’s online activity
  • Create a limited email account for your child

Google Family Link

Family Link is a great system for managing your child on Android tablets as well as Chromebooks.

Highlights:

  • Manage time and limits on tablets and Chromebooks
  • Create a Gmail account for your child
  • Control the apps and sites available to your child
  • Family Link does not work if your child (over the age of 13) already has a Gmail account

Apple

Apple products currently require a bit more work as you’ll have to setup your Mac computer separately from your iOS device (iPod, iPhone, and iPad).

Highlights:

  • Manage apps and screen time for your children
  • Create a shared family account for iTunes purchases
  • Kid-specific area of the App Store that has curated apps for your child
  • Easily block all in-app purchases

These tools can be a big help to manage your child’s experience in this digital world, but they are all limited in some way.  We encourage you to stay engaged with what they’re doing and who they’re doing it with online.

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