PARENTAL CONTROL SOFTWARE: A PARENT’S GUIDE

A Parent’s Guide to Parental Control Software

The internet can be a place of entertainment and education for adults and kids alike. But for every benefit, there are risks. For example, 59% of teens in the United States have experienced cyber-bullying. Similarly, adults can easily take advantage of children and teens by posing as their peers. That’s why it’s so important to know the best parental control software out there.

Children also typically lack the skills to avoid scams, phishing, and malware. Children, teens, and even some adults post things on social media that come back to bite them later on.

Inappropriate content that can traumatize children who see it too early is easy to find, whether intentionally or by accident. How can you keep your child safe from these threats? Parental controls can help.

Read:

-Online Safety for Kids

-Cyberbullying and other online threats

-Nine things your child should never do online

What is Parental Control?

Parental control, also known as internet safety software, allows you to set parameters for your child’s internet usage. When most people hear the term “parental controls,” they think of content filtering and pornography blocking. Though those features remain central to parental control software, they are not the only thing they can do.

Some packages include controls on screen time that lock kids out of the internet after the timer has run out. Others monitor social media activity, text messages, and emails. Some packages even include location tracking. Most include a mechanism for reporting your child’s activity for you.

Sometimes they send real-time alerts to your phone. Others have a dashboard where you can view their activity like a social media timeline. These are often combined with a monthly report of your child’s activity with aggregated statistics.

Do You Need Parental Control?

Short answer: probably. The internet is a constantly changing world and kids are becoming connected to it at an earlier and earlier age. Even if you think you’re monitoring your child’s activity closely, things can fall through the cracks.

Parenting is stressful enough without hovering over your child’s internet usage. Parental controls and honest conversations about internet safety can help you rest easy and foster age-appropriate independence.

Parental Control Software Options

Finding the right parental control software for your family does not have to be hard. With free trials, you can shop around to see which one you like before spending any money. Here are some popular options.

Note: We recommend you shop around as prices may vary according to features per package and individual needs. 

Kaspersky Safe Kids

Kaspersky Safe Kids has a free and paid premium version. Features on the free version include blocking adult content, blocking YouTube searches on inappropriate topics, blocking access to age-inappropriate games, and screen time limits.

If you want location tracking, you need the premium subscription. The premium subscription can also notify you when your child’s device battery is low and when they attempt to access blocked content. With all these unique features for $15 per year, Kaspersky Safe Kids is a great budget-friendly option.

Go to website: Kaspersky Safe Kids
Get it on Amazon: Kaspersky Safe Kids

Qustodio Parental Control

Qustodio’s notable features include social media activity tracking, phone call, and text message monitoring, monthly activity reports, and a panic button.

The pricing is based on the number of devices covered by it. Pricing starts at $54.95 per year with the five-device small plan and ends at $137.95 for the fifteen-device large plan. Its sophisticated content filtering methods make Qustodio a good choice for savvy teenagers.

Go to website: Qustodio Family 

Get it on Amazon: Qustodio Parental Control

Norton 360 Deluxe

You probably know Norton as an anti-virus software. The Deluxe package of Norton 360 Deluxe includes parental control. Norton recently added a new feature called “School Time” designed to keep students focused during remote learning. The package covers up to five devices. The first year costs $40 and the price goes up to $105 the following year.

Get in on Amazon: Norton 360 Deluxe

Net Nanny

Net Nanny’s features include content filtering, screen time monitoring, location tracking, a live activity feed, and “remote time out.” Remote time out allows you to block access to the internet entirely with one click. The $40 small package only covers one computer. $55 covers up to five devices and $90 covers up to twenty.

Some reviews note that the content filters are easy to get around. This makes Net Nanny better for younger kids than older kids who seek out adult content on purpose.

Bark

With tracking capability on over 30 apps, Bark boasts the most comprehensive social media, tracking. It automatically alerts parents to potential concerns and offers psychologist-approved advice on handling them.

Unlike some other services, bark does not share everything the child does online with their parents, only the concerning activity. At $99 per year, it is on the costly side, but with that price, it can be installed on an unlimited number of devices.

Boomerang

Boomerang is a mobile-only parental control app. The features it prioritizes are different from desktop equivalents. Like similar mobile apps, it focuses on features like tracking screen time and blocking downloads of inappropriate apps. However, it also allows you to exclude educational apps from the screen time count. This is great if your concern is not screen time in general, but recreational screen time.

Another one of Boomerang’s notable features is a safe browser with built-in content filters called Spin. At $16 for a single device and $31 for the family pack of up to ten devices, it is a fairly affordable option if desktop coverage is not your priority.

Parental Control vs. Spying

The services we recommend are intended to set and enforce limits on children’s internet usage. We do not endorse spying on your children. Spying may “catch them in the act,” but it erodes trust and doesn’t equip kids to make informed choices on their own.

When combined with respectful discussions of internet safety parental controls can help, not hinder, trust between parents and children.

How to Handle Pushback

You might get some pushback from your kids about starting to use parental controls. You should especially expect it from teenagers. If they think these tools are for watching their every move, who can blame them?

Be honest about what the software is doing and why you’re using it. Frame it as protection from unsafe situations, not surveillance. If any part of it makes them uncomfortable, listen to their concerns and see if you can find a compromise.

Related Reading:

9 Ways to Prevent Cyberbullying