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Under Control

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By Evangelina Taurizano

January 27, 2021
11:21 pm
Los Angeles, CA

That internet connections are present and occupy a large part of our lives, is nothing new. Today everything is done online, from a bank transfer, the purchase of clothes, appliances, the supermarket and, from this crazy and pandemic new world, almost all education. The list of actions in our daily lives that need the internet is endless and we could occupy hundreds of pages. Moreover, for you, my dear reader, to be able to click and read this article, you have had to access some kind of connection. Those of us who have children find ourselves the constant problem of knowing how to control what they look for, what they see, what they publish. If you are within this range of concerned parents, I only ask you to think

Vintage detective looking through a magnifier (Photo:Dreamstime/Andrea De Martin)

The list of actions in our daily lives that need the internet is endless and we could occupy hundreds of pages.

Moreover, for you, my dear reader, to be able to click and read this article, you have had to access some kind of connection.

Those of us who have children find ourselves the constant problem of knowing how to control what they look for, what they see, what they publish.

If you are within this range of concerned parents, I only ask you to think for a minute about what your childhood was like.In mine, and I don’t consider myself that old, the cartoons had a specific schedule, there was no offer of videos at all times and, what’s more, when we wanted to access some type of information, most of the time we had to look for any encyclopedia in the home library.

Today, just by putting a single word and hitting “enter”, endless publications appear, some related to our search and others that have nothing to do with it.

Now, you and I, who have a certain age and have already formed some criteria, have the ability to choose what to see and what not.

This certainly does not happen with children and adolescents. This technological generation has an amazing handling of the internet and the networks, but many times the offer in front of a simple word can be in addition to abundant, very harmful.

Kids with mobile phone. Child with tablet computer (Photo:Dreamstime/Famveldman)

Children and adolescents spend a large part of their day connected, searching, watching, publishing. They have their own devices such as phones, tablets, computers.
I think you will agree with me that controlling what they see and what they do not see is an extremely difficult task, but not impossible.

On our path as formators, I am sure that we must not give up.

If we investigate a little bit, we will see that there are some tips to establish parental control and limit, at least somewhat, access to certain places.

First, the basics. Never hand over electronic equipment such as a smartphone, iPod Touch, iPad or other tablet, and of course a computer, to a child without adjusting controls designed to protect them.

These options vary depending on the operating system, but the effects are generally similar, including blocking adult sites, prohibiting explicit content, using inappropriate applications such as violent games, etc.

Here are two applications that you can use, try them to see which one works best for you:

Qustodio – Free, with quite advanced monitoring functions for computers and mobiles and includes a control portal. It can categorize and catch visited web pages and alert parents immediately, and it can even block sites that are used to anonymously surf online.

Kidlogger – Free, works on computer and mobile phones. It shows you the amount of time they are using the computer or mobile phone and the list of applications used. On the phone it also shows the most used contacts, calls, text messages and chats.

Also, consider using only specialized browsers for minors. K9 is a browser for children that uses advanced filtering systems to block inappropriate sites and searches and if children are young, they can use an internet search engine like Kidrex that already has the appropriate filters configured.

If you want to know more applications and ways to know what your children do with their devices, you can visit the following sites

https://www.androidauthority.com/best-parental-control-apps-android-1133716/

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-parental-control-apps,review-2258.html

Now, beyond becoming Inspector Gadget or Clouseau, we must not forget the main theme: talking with our children and raising awareness about their use of networks and websites, being present and attentive. Elemental, my dear Watsons.