PARENTAL CONTROL TOOLS FOR INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT ON INTERNET

 

PARENTAL CONTROL TOOLS FOR INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT ON INTERNET

Minors' access to the Internet is massive and occurs at an increasingly early age, mainly through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. In this context, both a good digital education and the use of filters and parental control tools that protect them from unsafe sites and inappropriate content are essential. Do you know these resources?

The importance of parental control tools

Minors' access to the Internet is the majority and the main means of entry are mobile devices. According to data from the National Institute of Statistics, 95% of minors between 10 and 15 years old have a mobile phone with which, of course, they connect to the Internet, messaging services, social networks...

However, the first contact with technological devices is situated in the 7 years , which makes the use of parental control tools essential to keep the privacy of your data safe, as well as avoid the risks of accessing inappropriate content in Internet.

If you have children, it is essential that you take precautions and install parental control tools on your devices. These are some of its advantages:

·         They limit access to inappropriate content for the age of children.

·         They allow the option of limiting the time of use of the devices by minors.

·         They allow you to track the child's activity on the Internet.

·         They teach them that there are certain content and websites that, for their safety, they should avoid.

·         They make it possible to detect inappropriate behaviors and, in this way, prevent risks such as grooming or Cyberbullying .

·         They offer minors a safe environment with which to become familiar with new technologies, as well as a place of tranquility for parents.

·         Most of the parental control tools are free or have a free version that you can install and test on your devices.

 

Parental control tools for minors on the Internet

That the access of minors to the Internet and mobile devices is massive does not mean that they are aware of the risks of new technologies, both in terms of excessive use, and from the point of view of exposure to inappropriate content online. If you have children, you are interested in consulting this list of parental control applications and tools:

 

1- Qustodio

Qustodio is one of the most recommended parental control tools. It is available for both mobile devices and desktop computers (Windows and macOS). It has a free version and a paid version and can be used both in the family environment and on school computers (it has a version for schools). It incorporates options such as connection time control, inappropriate content filters or restriction of words and access to certain web pages.

2- Secure Kids

Secure Kids is another of the parental control tools that offers you several very interesting features in its free version (it has another paid version). We are talking about an application that you can install on smartphones or tablets and with which you can have your child geolocated, limit access to certain web pages, filter content and words, block the use of the mobile device for calls.

3- Parental Click

Parental Click is a paid parental control application, although its income goes to the ANAR Foundation, focused on helping children and adolescents at risk and highly focused on the field of new technologies. Its cost is 14 euros per year and is available for download on mobile devices. Like other parental control tools, this application allows you to block access to content, limit the time of use of the mobile or tablet, as well as install a help button that allows the child to ask for help in case of suffering any kind of harassment or risk situation.  

4- Windows Live Family Safety

If you are a Windows device user, you don't have to look for external parental control tools because you already have one that comes by default on computers with Microsoft's operating system. It is about Windows Live Family Safety that allows you to limit the use of the PC, filter access to certain web pages and content ... You just have to log in with your user account and activate the parental control options that interest you the most or adapt to the age of your child. 

5- Parental control in IOS

If you are a user of devices with an iOS (Apple) operating system, you also have parental control tools that are integrated into your Apple brand mobile devices such as iPhone or iPad. To activate parental control and prevent your child from misusing the device or simply limit its use for a certain time, go to Settings, General and select Restrictions. 

6- Eset Parental Control

We continue with this list of parental control tools with Eset Parental Control, another of the free options that is available for Android devices and that allows you to monitor your child's activity on the Internet, as well as limit access to certain content or the time of use of mobile or tablet. It has a paid version that expands its options and allows you the option of downloading reports or having more monitoring of the use that your child makes of new technologies. 

7- K9 Web Protection

One of the most used software’s for the protection and limitation of the use time of minors on the Internet. K9 Web Protection is free and offers you basic cybersecurity measures and filtering of words and websites for both mobile devices and desktop computers. 

8- Norton Family

Norton is one of the best known cybersecurity brands in the world and also has parental control tools that are available for both mobile devices and traditional PCs. Norton Family has been recognized as one of the best options to prevent minors from accessing inappropriate content on the Internet and, apart from incorporating numerous filter options, stands out for the option to limit videos on platforms such as YouTube. 

9- Kids Place

One of the easiest parental control tools to install and especially recommended for children who are beginning to become familiar with the use of their parents' mobile terminals. It is available for Android devices (you must go to Google play) and already has more than a million downloads. You can see how it works in this video:

10- Google Family Link

We close this list of parental control tools with Google Family Link that is specially designed for mobile devices (those preferred by minors) and that allows you to limit the time of use by minors, as well as create accounts with different levels of security and access. All for free.