About "Parental Control" In Your Children's Digital Menu

 

About "Parental Control" In Your Children's Digital Menu

Parental controls and filters can help, at certain ages, to set the digital menu for your children. Many of you have shown your interest in learning more about the subject, in this special we offer an answer to this question.

01. What do we call parental control?

If 25 years ago someone pronounced the words "parental control", we all interpreted the same thing: fathers or mothers who are aware of their children. Neither too much control nor lack of involvement of a parent in the lives of their children was implied. It was two words that meant just what they meant. Already fully immersed in the 21st century, invaded by digital life and immersed in what is undoubtedly a change of era, saying "parental control" is associated with many more things.

The word "control" is for some a synonym for excessive parental involvement in the lives of their children (helicopter parents, soft children, etc.). The two words together also refer to the concept of technological measures available to monitor what our children do when they connect to the Internet; and within this single concept are encompassed different theories regarding its efficacy, utility or future.

02. What are the great truths and lies around this concept?

Two big lies:

• When they say that “parental control” is useless because “children can skip it, they are getting smarter and smarter, they invent tricks to go over filters and restrictions”, they lie to us. Not all children break the rules nor are they useless tools.

• And when they sell us “parental control” products so that “your children don't get into trouble, don't stay connected for too long, you can be calm while surfing the net, avoid risky situations and you can see what they do and undo in the Net ”, they lie to us. No technological invention has achieved such a miracle so far.

Two great truths:

• The best parental control, above any software or hardware resource, we are the parents.

• Parental control tools in the form of software, applications, search engines, browsers, filters. are very useful.

Just by taking a look at the two lies and the two truths, we can see that the lies have to do with the negative (the perception of the cheating child who jumps the limits and of parents who prefer not to be aware). The truths, however, have to do with the positive (your children need you, but fortunately there are tools that help you complete your task).

03. What is parental control for?

The global one (the one that we give and the one that is supported by technological tools) serves to:

• Know the activity of children on the Internet and their tastes:  obtaining information about the websites they visit, their participation in networks or forums, their communication with the outside world.

• Prevent them from coming into contact with unknown or potentially dangerous people:  and thus reduce possible problems of grooming, Cyberbullying, sexting ...

• Reduce the possibility that children visit inappropriate websites:  erotic, that promote racism, violence or self-destructive habits...

• Limit screen time in terms of time and hours: prevent children from using certain applications or products because we consider them harmful (chats, messaging, social networks depending on age).

04. What does a technological parental control really do?

Technological parental control can help you in the following aspects:

• Filters and restricted access: so that children cannot access certain websites. Some parental control programs and applications pre-define these websites and others leave the choice in the hands of the parents.

• Blocking outgoing content: prevent children from sharing information online (filling out questionnaires on the Internet, for example).

• Time limits: intended for parents to schedule on and off times; or maximum time of Internet connection.

• Monitoring: control of online activity, registering pages visited, notifying if the child accesses one of these websites, reviewing the browsing history and analyzing how much time the child spends on each website visited.

• Remote connection to the child's computer or device by one of the parents: in this way, wherever we are, we can know in real time what they are doing.

05. At what ages is it recommended?

Parental control is especially useful when children do not yet have technological autonomy and are under 10 years of age.

When they are small , we can focus on limiting the connection time and preventing them from accessing unpleasant content. To achieve this, we can be aware and we can also resort to technological parental control (especially that of filters, browsers and special search engines). This way we will create good habits regarding where, when, how long they connect and what they see when they do so. At this time they tend to respect your rules, so there will be a tandem between those rules and assistive technology. It's about controlling where you access and limiting connection time.

When children grow up and gain technological autonomy, the problem begins to become more complex (for big children, big problems). In addition to the time and content, we are concerned that they will harm them, that they deceive them, that they find information that is unpleasant, violent, harmful to their physical or mental health. In addition to creating spaces for conversation and trust to talk with our children, we can continue to use technology (software programs , configuration on the router and apps on mobile devices).

When they are older, filters are less effective, children's browsers are not an option, and software and app alternatives are more associated with “dad, you spy on me” than education. At this time, parental control must be much more humane and be accompanied, in any case, by technological limits when your child's personality or activity requires it.

In all cases it is more important to monitor and then speak, than simply to control. Without the conversation, parental control technology lags because there is really no learning for children.