Why Parental Control is Important for Our Kids?
How
many times have you seen a child using
a Smartphone or tablet and have you thought: “you have to
see, if he knows how it works better than me”? We even find it funny that
our young children know how to play a mobile application or open YouTube and
find a video of their favorite drawings.
These
situations are becoming more and more common in our society and it is not
surprising considering the technological revolution that we are
experiencing today. The proliferation and progressive simplicity of all
these devices and the almost unlimited accessibility to the Internet is
allowing children to have more and more contact with a multitude
of electronic devices and that, in many cases, they are the ones
in charge of teaching their parents how they must use them.
But
we must not forget that, although a priori this whole world can provide
them with very useful tools when studying or training, for example,
it can also entail dangers. And the thing is that the Internet is a
space where content of all kinds can fit, many of
them inappropriate for minors: violence, pornography, radicalism.
Not to mention problems such as cyber
bullying or sexting, growing concerns given the possibility of
contacting all kinds of people in the network.
For
all these reasons, it is convenient for parents to become aware of the
importance of supervising and directing their children's use of new technologies
and helping them, especially at an early age, to discern between what they
should or should not do on the Internet.
Fortunately,
the same network offers parents a multitude of platforms and
tools for parental control that can be of use in these situations.
What
functionalities do parental control systems incorporate?
Most
parental control tools or applications work in a similar way and may include
features such as the following:
Monitoring and web control: this is, surely, the most
important functionality of parental control systems and allows parents both to
consult the most visited websites by their children and to configure the
so-called “black list”, a list of websites to which you want to limit access.
Activity reports: consists of the possibility of establishing
periodic reports on the activity and behavior of minors while using the device.
Blocking applications or programs: with this option parents can
determine that minors do not have access to certain programs or applications
(social networks, messaging applications ...). For this, they can
establish that it is necessary to enter a password to execute it.
Establishment of a “safe zone”: this functionality allows to
establish a security zone that the minor can access, while protecting other
parts of the device that may contain, for example, information to which the
child should not have access.
Call blocking: most tools allow the minor to use the device to
block the possibility of sending or receiving calls from certain phone
numbers. This feature is very useful if you want, for example, to restrict
international calls or calls from unknown numbers.
Denial of activities that involve an economic outlay: allows establishing the
prohibition of downloading paid applications or making any type of purchase
over the Internet. In addition, with this option you can also limit
children from sending messages or making phone calls.
Time of use: this
functionality allows you to control and limit the hours during which the minor
uses the device. Many tools allow you to program the schedules for each
day of the week and set, for example, that if the device is turned on when the
time limit is reached, the session ends automatically.
Geolocation: this
feature allows you to know the location of the child if they leave home with
the device.
Remote control from the mobile phone or computer: finally, most parental control
tools include this functionality, through which we can control all the
variables that we have been commenting on from our mobile phone or computer.
There
are many Parental Control Tools compatible with both Windows and
Android, some of the best known are: Windows Family
Safety, Qustodio , Norton Family , Kid
Logger or K9 Web Protection .
If
you are interested in starting to familiarize yourself with any of them, you
can consult the list made by the Internet User Safety
Office (OSI), a space dependent on the Ministry of Energy, Tourism and
Digital Agenda that provides information and support to prevent and resolve
possible security problems that may exist when browsing the Internet.
In
addition, we must not forget that there
are professionals who can advise us on the use of this type
of platform. This is the case of MGS Seguros Home Insurance, which
includes coverage for remote home computer assistance. If you have
contracted this coverage you can have a group of professionals who will
guide you in the prevention of minors on the Internet: they will inform you of
the existing risks, together with recommended guidelines for action; They
will assist you in the selection, installation and use of the computer support
tools for parental control available on the market and they will be able to
inform you about the existing aid organizations and associations in the event
of a minor incident on the Internet.