Kids, Parents, & Technology
Recently my church, Redeemer Presbyterian, held a class for parents that explored the impact of technology on their kids' social, emotional, and spiritual development. One of our Pastors led the majority of the discussion, but I was asked to prepare materials highlighting hardware and software solutions that can help create healthier and safer technology use through appropriate boundaries and monitoring. Below are some excerpts and links to some of what I compiled.
There are many products on the market for protecting your family members as they utilize technology, and they all take different approaches and solve different problems. The first task is to decide what tools would be most beneficial for your family. The simplest solutions provide basic web filtering and the more complex offer time limits, social media reports, and more.
There are two basic approaches. First are software based controls located on the devices. Second are hardware or service based controls applied to an entire wifi network.
On-Device Controls
On-device controls have the potential to be the most restrictive and consistent. These controls will apply whether the device is connected to your home wifi, public wifi, or a cellular data network. Ranging from controls built into you Operating System, such as Restrictions on an iPhone, or user accounts on a Mac that are Managed by Parental Controls to MDM (Mobile Device Management) solutions from the Kaspersky, Familoop, and ForceField. The website ASecureLife has some great reviews and comparisons of these types of services.
Network Controls
Network controls can be hardware based or DNS service based. Hardware solutions such as Circle with Disney or Luma allow you to filter content, set time limits for usage, and even "pause" the internet. DNS service solutions such as OpenDNS route all of your home network traffic through their servers as opposed to your ISP (Internet Service Provider). This allows them to apply filters, keep activity logs, and more. The great thing about these solutions is that they will impact all devices connected to your network, including visitors. Once again, ASecureLife has some great reviews of these devices and services.
Additional Resources
In researching this topic I also found PCMag to have very helpful reviews.
Another headache for Parents is often the confusion of AppleIDs. I recommend utilizing Family Sharing to manage your families AppleIDs without sharing the same ID.
If you need help navigating these questions for your family, please reach out via my contact page.