I'm intersted in hearing what parental controls people are using.
I'm mostly interested in being able to switch internet access on and off or setting a weekly limit. Im not so worried about content control.
Also a lot of the ones I can find have subscription fees that are not cheap.
Love to hear your solutions :)
My moms would do that with the Nintendo. Little did she know that half a dozen other devices in the house used the same adapter.
"Oh no, I'm too sick for school"
"hmmm, you'd better stay home from school, but I'm taking the Nintendo power cord to work with me so you won't be playing it all day"
"that's okay mom, cough cough, I'm too sick to play anyway"
Moms or mums?
Dave Chappelle: "One they or many theys".
And how many mothers did AustriaBargain have?
Maybe it's just their name for her. Lots of families from different cultures have versions of Mum, e.g. my Lithuanian friends say Mommy and they were born and raised in Australia.
And kill it for everyone else?
Just turn the Wifi OFF
However with some modems you can place certain restrictions on each user.
For basic on/off access controls for each of your household's devices, many home internet routers have this feature built in.
It may be worth mentioning the brand & model of your router here & we may be able to confirm.
Most routers have something in settings like "Enable wireless scheduler" to do this automatically. Or just switch it off manually.
On an ASUS router, go to http://192.168.1.1 > Wireless > Professional > Enable wireless scheduler > Time Setting
It also has 'parental controls', which switches each device access on/off by time. I'm assuming that's what they would want, rather than switching the wifi completely on/off for everyone. Unless I'm misunderstanding what the option you mentioned does.
Just the internet? So they can still use the device?
Dunno if these can do that, but I use below for my kids.
Family Link for Android
Screentime for IOS
Both free
I’ve got a Google nest wifi connected to google home and it has the ability to block internet to individual devices on the network
Ie I can block the wifi to the smart tv, so no Netflix or YouTube but still leave it on for my phone and laptop
Oh yeah, I got that too. First version though.
Simple and hassle free-solution - Power the existing modem via a $20 Tuya based smart plug and create a turn on-off schedule. The downside of this method is that even the adults would loose internet access on their devices when the schedule kicks in.
These days most home routers have some sort of wifi scheduling function. Check the user manual of your existing router and if no such feature is available (i.e. the cheapo modems provided by ISPs) then get something like an Asus router that fits your budget.
Power the existing modem via a $20 Tuya based smart plug and create a turn on-off schedule.
With no internet, how is it gonna turn back on…?
It's turns on based on a timer, no need for internet
Also unless the kid isn't very smart they will figure out they can take it off the smart plug and put it directly into the wall.
Or walk over to the smart plug and just hit the on button to turn it back on.
Best to start from a young age so that they understand you are serious when you make such a request, follow through by restricting access to devices if it is ignored, have a dumb phone you can stick a SIM in if they "need" to be contacted for safety, have a computer in the lounge room for monitoring to be used for homework if they disobey.
BUT, don't be an arse about it. Don't pause youtube on the phone in your hand to tell them their screen time is over then hit play again. Organise internet free activities every evening that you participate in - board games, reading, old movies watched as family, baking treats, playing multi-player mario kart, doing some housework, now it is warmer and lighter - sit outside for a BBQ, go for a walk, do some knitting or drawing or writing, there are lots of options. You need to work a little harder to provide this, but it is good. Let everyone be involved in what to do, if a kid wants to go hit a tennis ball around one evening but you don't like tennis much, tough, you have to do their thing sometimes.
You might need to get buy in from your partner beforehand, you need to present a united front.
IMO technological solutions are poor, can be gamed, and start an arms race with your kids. I ran the porn filter for NSW public schools for a while, you won't beat the kids on work arounds unless you are very draconian.
And if you aren't prepared to have some offline time with your kids, why would they respect your direction that they have offline time?
My oldest kids are adults, but they still shudder and joke about "1940s house" when I would turn everything off if they weren't joining in or got caught sending a quick message in the middle of reading hour.
I was born in the mid 90s and I think my generation is the best because we knew was it was like before the internet was ubiquitous and was the first to fully embrace it.
I can't remember what it was like in my childhood without the internet. I was always told to go outside and play as my parents had. As a mid 20yo now when I don't have wifi or mobile data I am immediately bored. I have a phone in my hand which has more than 1000x the processing speed of the first ever computers yet I am unsatisfied.
I can't even imagine it would be like for people who regularly use TikTok or other apps which give small and quick dopamine hits.
There needs to be times during the week which are entirely internet free (for your kids anyway, for you mobile data can be on for emergencies). Presenting a united front with your partner is required in order to show your kids that you can have fun without the internet.
You are right about the technological solutions - my parents were new to the internet and technology in general and I'm sure if they did implement some sort of software limitations on what I can view or access I would have found a way around it. There are plenty of resources online to get around basically any type of deterrent.
I am honestly afraid for the next generation and their reliance on the internet even though we are all heavily reliant on it already.
The internet would have been ubiquitous already in your childhood if you were born in the mid 90s. I was born in the mid 80s and the internet became a big thing when I was in early high school (used to play Neopets on the library computers every lunch time before they figured out to ban that site). But I got an email address in late primary school, surfed the net for COBs and new breeds for the game Creatures, used chat rooms etc. Printed out strategy guides for my N64 games. Downloaded games to put on floppy disks to play games they hadn't authorised during our once a week computer time at school :-p Was so exciting
Aol and neopets. Many a glorious sleepless night. Part of my soul died when I found out they deleted unused accounts.
@cookie2: Oh do they? 😢 I wondered occasionally if my Aisha called Fluffy was still alive and starving somewhere in the interwebs. I guess she's long gone.
@Quantumcat: Yup my blumaroo, kow and aisha same. Plus poor little pet mallard. Who will read their books and teach them? Yeah all gone. There's a small part of me, tempted to return and start again. But I may not ever get back to the land of the living. Thanks for the pics back down memory lane. Ha! Fun fact my first pets name was fluffy.
Same!
Old enough to see 5.25 floppies - 1.44" floppies - CD rom - usb
Old enough to know that even the worst adsl is better than the old dialup
Old enough to remember cassettes, then cds, napster and burning cds, then limewire
Basically, old enough to appreciate what is on offer to newer generations
I'm afraid for all of us
I was born in the mid 90s and I think my generation is the best
As a mid 20yo now when I don't have wifi or mobile data I am immediately bored.
Yeah, no one's buying what you're trying to sell here champ…
Best Parental Control to Restrict Internet Time
The parent setting clear boundaries on when they should use and apply the setting on (most) routers.
I'm using Microsoft accounts for each child - that means I can set screen times for both Xbox and PC's, and also enable additional time on demand if needed for things like homework or as a reward.
This is free, and works rather effectively - I'm not the big bad boss since they all have their allotted time and then they swap out for siblings to have their turns. Starting early means I'm also not dealing with stroppy teens who have sufficient knowledge to subvert the system (also speaking from experience).
+1 to that, Microsoft Family Safety
Just remember, teenagers will speak to their friends, watch YT on how to get around this.
Best Parental Control
A Parent
I'm intersted in hearing what parental controls people are using.
Android devices - Family link, can set bed times etc that lock the device, screen time or app limits.
Apple - Family Sharing basically as above
Microsoft - Microsoft Family Safety, as above
Nintendo - You guessed it, Nintendo Switch Parental Controls, sets limits etc.
The key is to set limits from early on and then have ways to earn bonus time. Young kids might get 30 mins a day for 'free but then earn extra time for reading or doing homework or chores etc. Thats how we do it. A base amount of time, and then extra time for 'learning' things like reading. Want more tablet time? Go read for 30 mins. Works really well as the kids are just use to it and don't expect to be on a device 24x7.
Best method is the Apple Screen Time for Macos/IOS. If they need more they can come and request it (just make sure they don't peek at the code). There is a few other tricks they can do to avoid it - but I also set a rate limit on their wifi "after hours" to be very very slow so they just give up if they persist.
More difficult once they have their own SIM card.
A trap to watch out for in setting lots of parental controls is the child is not learning any self regulation. When they grow up they won't have the skills to choose to stop doing something that's more fun than something they need to do if they haven't ever needed to practice them. And before that time, when you do allow them time on their devices that's all they'll do, even if they don't super want to, because if they don't do it now they won't get to later. For example, they might think, I'd really like to keep working on my art project, but I only get to play games from 7-9pm on Saturdays, and if I don't do it now I won't get to for another week, so I guess I had better. It is similar to lollies and ice cream - kids who were overly restricted on lollies growing up seem to have more of a problem with food as adults. If you don't get access to them whenever you might fancy them, when you do get access you need to gorge, or steal some to stash away, even if you aren't even hungry or don't feel like eating lollies at that moment, because who knows when the chance will come again. Whereas if you have access more often you have the luxury of listening to your body and not eating them when you don't particularly feel like it, as you have the security of knowing they'll be there if you feel like them later.
My advice: if you have pre-teens or teens (so they have the capacity to self-regulate - you would expect much less from a 7 year old than a 15 year old), explain to them what you want to see. You want them to be able to get their schoolwork done, as well as have a balanced approach to their spare time. Gaming/social media should just be one of the many activities they do. Tell them you are going to give them the chance to show they can do this. If they can't, and they end up binging on gaming/social media, tell them you are going to help them learn by putting some restrictions on, but it is temporary and in a few months you'll review the situation and take them off if it looks like they might do better the next time. Make sure they know the goal is for them to be able to practice self-regulation as an adult and it is something that parents have the responsibility to teach their children when preparing them for adulthood, while they're in a safe environment without real responsibilities of their own. If they understand this they might be more accepting of your approach instead of thinking you just want to make them miserable and stop them enjoying themselves. You can explain if they don't learn it, they might end up dropping out of uni, losing their job, losing the house they live in, etc. It's quite important!
Great advice!
I don't know that there is a "right" answer, do what works for you and your kids… but hearing all the options give you some ideas.
We found that telling the kids to get off ended in more fighting over "just let me finish this level/game/whatever", but having electronic timers on internet access or device downtime (Apple devices) was just accepted despite being far more harsh in that it just cut you off all of a sudden. That said, as they get older it gets harder to manage different limits across different kids with electronic timers since they have different cut off times.
One of our solutions was that the charger lives in a central location and if the device is flat, clearly you need to put it down and do something else for a while. If you forget to charge, well, that's a you problem.
Another consideration (for older kids with a phone) is that cutting off WiFi isn't necessarily the best idea when they then fall back to mobile data. That central charging location can help solve that problem.
All I can say is that it continues to be a challenge (not only for kids!) to regulate time on devices, but it's how the world now works. How many times have you been watching some TV show and also flicking through some form of social media on your phone? Been out with friends and spend half the time showing each other memes?
I'm slowly (quickly) turning into the old man yelling at the clouds, but I hate it all and keep trying to make an effort to put the phone down somewhere away from me… I fail, but I'll keep trying.
Household has a mix of everything , laptops, android, Nintendo, ipads etc.
I couldn't individually control the different O/S tools, and wanted a way to block the internet. As most of the time without internet the device can't magically work anymore.
So I ended up buying the "AVM FRITZ!Box 7590" Modem Router
(There might be other stuff like this, but I liked the controls and I can update it via an app)
First thing is this has Parental Controls
- I can set up a list of blocked domains like youtube etc.
So things like the TV, I can have a rule like no youtube during the week, and it gets blocked after 6pm.
Every device I can set up with their own access rules, so I can set how long the internet can be (hrs per day, hrs per week etc)
The Hours per day / week didn't last long as idle laptops / ipads were using time, so I mainly use stuff like "No internet after 6pm" stuff
On my phone I have a "MyFRITZ!" app, and I can modify rules. Turn off the internet off on selected devices. Give an extra hour here and there.
Also golden rule is no devices in their rooms. Everything must be out in the open.
I also follow this guy on FB too : https://www.facebook.com/deputygomez/
Check out Family Zone it is a subscription Supported on iOS, Mac OS, Android, Windows, and Chrome OS. I've been using it since Dec 2019 total outlay so far $271.55 which for three years is not too bad. I'm on $5.95 per month it's $6.99 now for new subscribers.
I set schedules on my Dream Machine
Its called the power supply unit to the modem