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 six 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 almost 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. Here are six 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 their kids. The best tools, such as NetNanny, Qustodio, and Mobicip, use real-time content filtering; for example, they might let you read a science fiction story but block a story with erotic content on the same website.
Different security tools also have different numbers of content categories that you can use to set the level of filtering you want. These categories can include violence, drugs, gambling, pornography, and more. Parental control software usually lets you 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 offers just 14, and Clean Router groups websites into 9 categories.
Some parental control software, such as Mobicip, can also filter HTTPS websites. Clean Router can block access to HTTPS websites, but it cannot 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 an eye on what your kids see online, you probably also want to prevent them from spending too much time in front of screens. Most parental control programs include access time limits, also known as time limits. NetNanny, Qustodio, and Norton Family Premier are some of the tools that set time limits across all devices so that your child doesn’t just switch from a computer to a tablet and continue browsing the internet.
Kaspersky Safe Kids lets parents set time limits for their children’s smartphones as well as apps on other devices, which is very useful. Since Circle is about routers, not individual devices, you can use it to completely shut down the internet if you need to ground your child or want to set a bedtime, 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 features on iOS are limited, so it wouldn’t be a good option 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 cover almost all 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 control your router instead of individual devices. Using Circle or Clean Router ensures that no matter what devices your kids use, they’ll all be protected by the same comprehensive management program.
Can You Access Social Media Monitoring?
For teens and their parents, the content their children watch can easily take a back seat to concerns about social media use. With the rise of cyberbullying and the extremely disturbing content shared on social media, this type of monitoring has become essential for many parents. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to monitor. Norton Family Premier lets parents see a list of all the videos their children have watched on YouTube and has advanced web monitoring capabilities for videos and social media content. Kaspersky Safe Kids can also monitor your child’s Facebook account, but it requires your cooperation and doesn’t extend to other social networks.
One of the best social media monitoring options is KidLogger. This tool records every keystroke your child makes, logs all their phone calls, and lets you see all their messages on Facebook, Viber, Skype, Kik, and other social networks. 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 about what their children are doing without their knowledge. That’s why many parental control tools send regular activity reports and log your 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 YouTube and Hulu watch list and a log of their web searches. If you want to monitor your child’s every move online, KidLogger is your best bet. It records every keystroke, web history, screenshot, 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 earlier.
Can You Manage it Remotely?
In our busy lives, we need to be able to manage 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 with its Monitor app. This app displays your child’s internet history, lets you view activity reports, and responds to their requests to access certain websites.
Keep your kids safe online.
Whether you’re more concerned with monitoring their social media usage or preventing your kids from viewing inappropriate content, you can keep your kids safe online from anywhere with one of these excellent parental monitoring software tools.
