In today’s digital age, children are taking advantage of the benefits of being online. Even those who were not as connected, have become more familiar with the internet as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, where many younger users have become familiar with how to learn remotely.

However, as a more vulnerable demographic, it is essential to monitor and manage your child’s experience online. The internet has plenty to offer, which can be good or bad for the user.

When it concerns a less mature audience, the responsibility falls on parents and guardians to be precise in how they manage their children’s online access, so as to avoid situations where they experience something that can hinder their ability to learn and develop.

In these situations, parental controls are a great help to concerned parents or guardians. Setting up parental controls on applications, web browsers, devices your internet connection settings, allows you to guide your children’s navigation of the internet to ensure access to what can be harmful is limited or denied outright.

It is impossible to monitor your child’s online activity 24 hours a day, and this is where taking advantage of parental controls can be extremely useful, especially for busy parents.

So what exactly can applying parental controls do to protect children?

1. Restrict access to inappropriate content

Parental controls can specifically help you to protect children against viewing unsuitable adult content. Most popular browsers feature parental control settings that can block certain websites from being viewable.

Internet service providers also have the ability to place filters that block inappropriate content on any device that connects to your home WI-FI, while devices, mobile network operators and online services, such as YouTube, all feature parental control settings that can help you to restrict the availability of higher age rated content.

2. Set screen time limits

Spending longer than reasonable periods of time on a device is unhealthy for adults and children, but it may be harder for children to break the habit. Enabling parental control settings will allow you to limit excessive screen time for children. Setting parental controls on screen time can be supplemented by designating device-free time in your household, and taking this time to enjoy other means of entertainment such as playing cards or reading a book.

3. Encourage dialogue with children about online safety

Setting up parental controls helps to create an environment of open dialogue between you and your children about online safety. They may ask you why a certain piece of content was blocked or why they shouldn’t share some types of information online, and this is an opportunity for parents and guardians to talk to their children about how the internet can be unsafe, and why it is necessary to take some precautions.