Ask HN: Parental Controls You Use? Hi HN-ers, For those of you with kids, what parental control apps/mechanisms do you use for restricting mature content, managing access, etc? Which ones have you tried and which ones work best? |
Ask HN: Parental Controls You Use? Hi HN-ers, For those of you with kids, what parental control apps/mechanisms do you use for restricting mature content, managing access, etc? Which ones have you tried and which ones work best? |
The biggest one though is not giving the kid a cellphone.
It forces Google SafeSearch on and restricts the major porn sites. It's not foolproof though - you can still find stuff if you know what you're looking for, particularly discovering games on itch and via reddit.
FYI - Kids are way smarter and have so much time. I enjoyed working around my parents, who resorted to a wireless VGA mirroring device that put what was on my screen on a display in the living room (which I found a workaround for with my 3500 AGP card, see what I mean?)
If your young kids use Apple devices, I'd also consider setting an MDM (you need a Mac, to erase the iOS device, and an app called Apple Configurator 2)
Here are some settings I'd be sure to deploy:
- Disable "Allow Manual VPN creation"
- Disable "Allow modifying account settings" (creative kids will change iCloud accounts which syncs preset Wifi details from another device)
- Disable "Allow modifying cellular data app settings" / "Allow cellular plan changes"
+ Enable "Connect to MDM-configured Wi-Fi networks only" after you're sure you've considered common access points you need to add
I would also use a monitoring tool at home for bluetooth and wifi devices and access points that pop up. Export the log now and then and see if any devices appear around your house when your kids get home and their registered devices appear. I found vapes on my 8 year old nephew because he was using a Bluetooth app on his phone to choose profiles. 8 years old.
Gotta be way proactive if you want to protect these young minds. It's nearly impossible to shield anyone for any length of time without being disconnected, which is also unhealthy for growing minds.
In the end, it's all balance. But you need way more than just parental controls. Parental controls is like the little gate latch you lift to open the gate, it will be worked around.
* The best way to roll this out since you must erase the iOS device is to do an upgrade swap and have them trade in their old device.
Will check out an MDM. Is that like Kandji that gets deployed on corporate devices?
I'm so glad I didn't have cell phones when I was a kid. I would have never been able to make it through school. Good luck.
Kids these days are fighting so many battles.