Parental control software is essential for keeping your kids safe in the digital world. Before you choose the best tools to keep your kids safe online, ask yourself these 6 questions.
Kids are spending more time online than ever before, but we all know that the beauty and danger of the internet is that you can find anything. Parents want to keep their kids safe, protect them from inappropriate content, and monitor their activities. Fortunately, there are many tools that parents can use to keep their kids safe online. These are the 6 key questions you should ask yourself before choosing the best parental control software.
Does it Offer Content Filtering?
For most parents, content filtering is a key requirement for an internet safety tool for kids. The best tools, such as NetNanny, Qustodio, and Mobicip, use real-time content filtering; for example, they let you read a science fiction story but block an erotic story on the same website.
Different security tools also have different numbers of content categories that you can use to set your desired level of filtering. These categories can include violence, drugs, gambling, pornography, and more. It’s standard for parental control software to manually block or allow individual websites, but categories make it easier to set general preferences. The more categories you have, the more precise you can adjust your content filter settings. K9 Web Protection offers over 70 different categories, while Mobicip leads the way with 80. Circle offers 30 categories, while Kaspersky Safe Kids only offers 14, and Clean Router groups websites into 9.
Some parental control software, such as Mobicip, can also filter HTTPS websites. Clean Router can block access to HTTPS websites, but it can’t filter their content. While Norton Family Premier also offers real-time content filtering across 48 categories, it doesn’t block HTTPS websites if they’re opened in an unsupported browser. However, it does enable SafeSearch on Google, YouTube, Yahoo, and other search engines when the search control mode is enabled, which is also offered by K9 Web Protection.
Does it Include Access Scheduling?
In addition to keeping track of what your kids are watching online, you probably also want to prevent them from spending too much time in front of a screen. In most parental control programs, you’ll find a time limit, also called a time limit or time limit. NetNanny, Qustodio, and Norton Family Premier are among the tools that set time limits across all devices, so your child can’t just switch from a computer to a tablet and continue browsing the web.
Kaspersky Safe Kids lets parents set time limits for their children’s smartphones as well as apps on other devices, which is very useful. Because Circle applies to routers, not individual devices, you can use it to completely shut down the internet if you need to punish a child or want to enforce a bedtime schedule, as well as set daily limits for individual apps and websites.
Does it Cover All the Platforms You Need?
Before buying any parental control software, it’s important to check that it’s compatible with the devices and operating systems you and your kids use. For example, Norton Family Premier is extremely powerful for Windows and Android users, but its iOS capabilities are limited, so it wouldn’t be a good choice if all your teens have iPhones. Kaspersky Safe Kids also has some limitations for iOS platforms. Zoodles Kids Mode is a cross-platform tool that works equally well on Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS, while Qustodio and Mobicip are compatible with most platforms. Both are compatible with Mac and Windows, iOS, Android, and even Nook and Kindle.
If you’re concerned about covering every possible platform, another option is to implement controls on your router rather than on individual devices. Using Circle or Clean Router ensures that no matter what devices your kids use, they’re all covered by the same comprehensive management plan.
Can You Access Social Media Monitoring?
For teens and their parents, the content their kids watch can take a back seat to their concerns about social media use. With the rise of cyberbullying and extremely disturbing content being sent via social media, this type of monitoring has become essential for many parents. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to monitor. Norton Family Premier lets parents view a list of all the videos their kids have watched on YouTube and has advanced web tracking features for videos and social media content. Kaspersky Safe Kids can also monitor your child’s Facebook account, but it will require your cooperation, and it doesn’t extend to other social media platforms.
One of the best social media monitoring options is KidLogger. This tool logs your child’s every keystroke, records all their phone calls, and lets you view all their messages from Facebook, Viber, Skype, Kik, and other social networking platforms. It even offers silent monitoring of WhatsApp and Skype conversations with a voice recorder and can be set to take screenshots of Skype conversations every 15 seconds.
Does it Send Activity Reports and Logs?
What our children do online often seems incredible. Many parents worry that their children, who knows, are doing what they’re doing online without them knowing. That’s why many parental control tools send regular activity reports and log their children’s internet usage over a period of time. Zoodles Kids Mode, NetNanny, Mobicip, Qustodio, and many others send regular activity reports. Qustodio keeps activity logs for up to 30 days for paid users.
Norton Family Premier offers advanced activity tracking features, such as sharing your child’s watch list on YouTube and Hulu and a log of their web searches. If you want to monitor your child’s every online activity, KidLogger is your best option. It records every keystroke, web history, screenshots, text copied to the clipboard, and more. You can use it to track their activity over time, along with the powerful social media monitoring tools mentioned above.
Can You Manage it Remotely?
In our busy lives, we need to be able to control everything, including parental control software. Many tools, such as NetNanny, offer a companion app that lets you monitor your child’s internet usage, adjust settings, and check notifications remotely. Qustodio and Norton Family Premier also allow remote management through their apps, as does Mobicip through its Monitor app. This app displays your child’s internet history, lets you analyze activity reports, and responds to your child’s requests to access a specific website.
Keep your kids safe online
Whether you’re more concerned with monitoring their social media usage or preventing your kids from viewing inappropriate content, and no matter where you are, you can keep your kids safe online with one of these excellent parental control software tools.
