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The other day while I was at the doctor’s clinic waiting for my turn I couldn’t help but notice a small boy (must have been around 4- 5 years of age) sitting right next to me fidgeting around with his mother’s smartphone. By fidgeting around I mean he managed to unlock her phone and started playing some game. After few minutes, this smart chap clicked on the link of a pop-up ad which redirected to an inappropriate site. Fortunately, his mom happened to look at what he was up to and tackled this awkward situation by taking it back and locking it immediately.

You must be wondering what exactly I am trying to tell you by sharing this incident right? You know at times, when you hand over your phone to your kid to keep him or her engaged so that you can probably finish of with other chores, there are chances that your kid too might have encountered a similar situation like that small boy I mentioned about. Kids today, have easy access to Internet via smartphones, tablets, laptops etc. and that’s not all, they are well versed with how to use it. I was stunned when my 3 year old niece once unlocked my phone and tried her photography skillsets by clicking numerous accidental selfies with hilarious facial expressions that’s not all, she even managed to access the YouTube App to watch her favorite rhymes. No matter how adorable it may seem for some it is honestly a worrisome issues especially for parents. That being said, parents are unaware of how they can ensure safe browsing in smartphones with the help of parental control features and other safe search filtering process. For example; not many know that there is a Safety Feature in Google Play Store, which allows you can restrict your child from downloading apps. Apart from this there are other ways as well.

Understanding that there is a lack of awareness of operating these access, here are some tips on how in few simple steps you can modify certain settings in your smartphone or desktops and take control of the situation.

Prevent Purchases on Google Play Store

Step 1: Open the Play Store →Tap on settings →Access Parental Control Option →Swipe on the Option to enable it

Step 2: Create PIN to set up Parental Control and tap on OK

Step 3: You can set content restrictions according to age group for Apps & Games, Movies & Music

Step 4: Click on the Save option of the dialogue box stating a restriction on purchases and download.

On doing this, you will have to enter the PIN every time you want to make a purchase on Google Play Store.

YouTube App

Since children mostly use YouTube on the smartphone to watch videos there is a lot of probability of your child viewing inappropriate content. However, you can filter the content on YouTube in few simple steps:

Step 1: Go to YouTube → Sign In with your account (if not signed out)

Step 2: Click on Settings Option under your Profile Picture’s drop down menu

Step 3: Select on the Restriction Mode under the drop down menu

Step 4: Swipe to the right to enable the Restricted Mode

Step 5: Swipe down to refresh the YouTube homepage video feed list to view filtered content.

You can also download YouTube Kids from Google Play Store or Apple iTunes. It comes with only child-friendly video content.

Restrict Access To Unknown Sources

As mentioned earlier in the article, there are possibilities of your child encountering inappropriate content through Pop-up ad promotions and links through unknown third party sources. However, you can restrict these annoying ads in a jiffy just by:

Step 1: Go to Settings →Click on the Security Option

Step 2: Scroll to find Unknown Sources Option → Swipe to disable the option (if enabled)

After you disabling the Unknown Source Option, if your child tries to download any link from unknown sources it will look something like this

Disable System Apps In your Android & iOS Smartphones.

Another effortless way of parental control is by simply disabling the App. Does that mean you can reuse the App ever again? Or will the data get erased? Will it adversely affect the functionality of the phone? Well, no, none of all this will occur. By Disabling an App you are restricting its access for a temporary period. For instance, if your child uses your phone to download games or watch videos on YouTube or access Chrome etc. here’s how you can disable these apps in few simple steps.

(Android)

Step 1: Tap on Settings →Tap on the Apps Option under settings

Step 2: You will find the list of the all the Apps present in your phone

Step 3: Tap on the specific App you wish to Disable

Step 4: Select the Disable option displayed on the App Info page.

(iOS)

Step 1: Go to Settings →Click on General→Click Restrictions option

Step 2: Enter the Password to enable the restriction

Step 3: You can select the feature or app you wish to restrict for your child

Step 4: You will need to enter the Password each time to disable or change the Restriction option.

In case you need to enable it follow the same process and click on Enable to activate the App once again in Android and swipe to left to deactivate the Restriction Mode in iOS.

Parental Control in Browsers:

It does not stop just there yet, children today extensively use browsers like; Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, or Safari to surf the Internet. Parents, to your surprise these browsers come with safe filters that allow you to make Internet a secure platform for your child as these browsers come with built-in safety filters or third party parental control filters that allow you control and restrict the access to inappropriate sites, games, apps and more. As you heave a sigh of relief, let’s take a look at how you can enable these safe filters in the above mentioned browsers in simple steps.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome is one of the most popular and majorly used browsers globally. That being said, this renowned browser comes with a default safe search filter feature which can be enabled in few simple and quick steps.

Step 1: Open the Google Chrome Browser →Click on the vertically aligned dots placed on the extreme right corner of the browser.

Step 2: Select the Settings option in the drop down box → It will direct you to chrome settings → Make sure that you are signed in Google Chrome (if you haven’t you need to sign in before moving further) →Click on the Manage Other People Option.

Step 3: A Window will be displayed with two Options browse as guest and Add Person →Select Add Person Option→ Type in the Name and Add a picture (optional).

Step 4: Lock your account so the information is hidden from the user →Login to your profile→Click Exit and Childlock.

Through this feature you can easily keep a track of the sites your child visits. All you need to do is:

Step 1: Select the People Option→ Click on Supervised Users Dashboard→Click on the profile name that you created under supervised user → you will see the list of sites that your child had viewed.

That’s not all after enabling this feature, if your child clicks on any link of an inappropriate site the ‘Ask for permission’ screen will be displayed to access the site.

Apple Safari

If you have one administrator account on your Mac, you then need to create another account to configure parental control feature. Here’s how you can manage to add parental control on your Safari browser.

Step 1: Click on the Apple icon in the far left corner of your Mac’s screen → Select the System Preference Option from the drop down menu

Step 2: Click on the Parental Controls Option → Select the create new user account with parental control option → Click on Continue

Step 3: Log in with your Administrative account and password→ Click on Unlock

Step 4: A new window is displayed → Select the age group level → Enter the name of your child → Enter the username → Enter the password → verify the password

Step 5: Create a password hint → Click on Create User option

Mozilla Firefox

Though Firefox does not come with any default parental control or safety filter. You can easily install third party security add-on like Child Mode, FoxFilter etc. to filter extraneous materials on the web.

Step 1: Visit the official site of Mozilla Firefox → Click on Add–On’s Button → Select the Firefox Add-on Option

Step 2: Type ‘Paternal Control’ in the search box to search for security Add –On’s

Step 3: You can review the information of each add-on’s listed on the page → Select your preferred option → Click on Add to Firefox

Step 4: Click on Install Now →you will prompted to restart the Firefox after the installation process.

Step 5: Click on Tools Tab→Select the Add-On’s Option→A window will display → Click on Options to enable the installed parental control software.

If your child accidentally happens to click on any inappropriate link. The above dialogue box will get displayed.

Internet Explorer

The Internet Explorer browser allows you to not only restrict websites but also inappropriate content and language as well. Here’s how you can easily configure the security settings in Internet Explorer browser.

Step 1: Click on Tools Option → Internet Options → Content

Step 2: Click on the Enable Option under Content Tab.

Step 3: You can any categories you wish to block and restrict your child from viewing or accessing. (You can also user the slider to decide on the limit access)

Step 4: Click on the Approved Sites Tab next to Ratings → Create the list of websites your child can access.

If your child accidentally happens to click on any inappropriate link while browsing on Internet Explorer, the below dialogue box will get displayed.

Apart from securing the browsers, parents must make sure that the anti-virus software is updated to detect threats and keep the desktop from viruses.

Although, you can certainly manage to make browsing a safe activity for your child with the help of technology. However, the best parental control you can try is to communicate with your children about the pros and cons of the digital world and how they should take appropriate precautionary measures while surfing the Internet.

Internet is a fabulous platform that offers a plethora of information and we need to ensure that our children access this information in the right manner.If you to have some better ideas and tips on how we can ensure that children surf the Internet with safety then do share it with us. Also, if you found the article interesting then do share it with your family and friends as well.