Hello, trying to find an app or carrier that allows me to disable all the functions (calls, SMS, data) on my kids phones when it gets to an unreasonable time each night. I have a smart router at home that I can turn off the wifi from my phone, and I used to have all the kids on my Vodafone account and could do it by the Vodafone app, BUT at $35 per month, per SIM for my 3 young teenagers it was very expensive. Any suggestions
Method to Disable Mobile Phones of My Kids
LJames W on 02/01/2023 - 11:01
Comments
That's what we do
no! safety risk
Far too simple and logical…
Go stand in the OzCorner…
I've seen in the movies a device where you can disable all mobile phone functions within a nominated radius.
You need one of these.
Turn their bedrooms into a faraday cage, problem solved.
Turn them off.
(I'm glad we had this talk)
https://support.google.com/android/answer/9346420?hl=en#zipp…
Manage how you spend time on your Android phone with Digital Wellbeinghttps://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/iphone/iph7f15d92dd/io…
Set up Screen Time for a family member on iPhone
Rather than an app or settings on a phone, have you tried talking to them (and I mean this with absolutely no disrespect).
You can change settings and download apps all you want, but if your kids have other devices (consoles, laptops etc), they could just move onto those instead. Try and find out what they are doing in those hours as well. Note: I don't mean invade their privacy and read their messages etc because that's a breach of boundaries and trust, but rather understand what they are doing in the hours you deem inappropriate (social media/gaming/media consumption), and why they are choosing to do that in those hours.
Things like social media have been linked to poor sleep (and health) outcomes, so it's important to educate young people about self control etc. so that they are empowered to make good decisions for their health. It is especially difficult as apps (gaming or social media) are designed to be addictive to keep people engaged.
Teenagers are old enough to think for themselves (or think they can at least), so you really need to help them understand why it's important to get decent sleep. Is it:
- Good sleep hygiene?
- Good routines to wake up at decent hours and be productive during the day (I know it's holidays, but they can be active/socializing etc.)
- To understand the impact of blue light on sleep
- To avoid addiction to whatever it is they are doing (examples listed above)
You need to give them something to understand why you want them to be asleep or without a device at a certain time. With it being the holidays, negotiate with them what days are fine for them to stay up and play games or watch movies etc. so they have some ownership of their behaviour.
If you don't give them this 'buy in' to understand that good sleep habits are beneficial, then your next posts could be (again, no disrespect intended):
- Method to make my kids do homework
- Method to get my kids a good ATAR
- Method to control the driving of my kids
Again, no disrespect intended (and apologies if this comment offends), but it may be worth understanding the underlying causes rather than just 'controlling' them if that makes sense.
On android > Parental Controls > Daily Limits
More here: https://support.google.com/families/answer/7103340
“Right’io kids, it’s that time of night, phones please, we will put them on charge and you can have them back in the morning…”
you are so mean dad, I'm 43, Brian's allowed to have his phone all night. You are the worst dad in the world. I hate you.
Well, your brother, Brian, is a world class specialist heart transplant surgeon. You sell lottery tickets for a living. When there is a lottery ticket emergency, you can have your phone back. And I don’t care how old you are, while ever you are under my roof…
That makes sense dad. Cheers
Not being a Karen, i think OP’s question is reasonable. If you’ve ever met a teenager you know that they might not always do what you want them to do. And if they go to bed after adults do - Which many do if parents need to get up at stupid o’clock in the morning - then it’s hard to enforce the rules after bedtime.
Sounds like OP hasn't given rules a try though
Cognitive ease by becoming passive aggressive than work out an acceptable arrangement with their kids.
Leave them in a bag of water each night and a bowl of rice each morning.
$35 per month, per SIM for my 3 young teenagers
WTF!!!!!
my 3 teenagers each have amaysim $10 per 28 days - unlimited calls & text, 2gb data (use wifi when at home) -it's an old plan that keeps going. it's now $15 for 4GB/28 days.
Thanks all for your comments both serious and sarcastic (for a first time post)
Optus have a feature called Optus Pause but not sure if you’re gonna be willing to switch to them.
optus pause is about pausing the recharge of prepaid sims.
ok, i stand corrected. i have optus pause on one of my pre paids and it indicates to pause automated recharges.
this is a great feature.
Bitdefender Security (Family Pack) comes with parental controls as part of the overall suite. You can limit screen time and app and website access on child device profiles.
https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/15233/Other vendors offer similar services. There are built in / OEM Options as stated above with Google and Android. Some consoles have these too.
my eldest has a phone now and i have put her under my account as a child, installed tasker on her phone and set it up (bed at 2000, data off, wifi off, bluetooth off, etc…. can be used for calls in emergencies or approval from admin etc. also as a preventative i have set up an administrator account (me) and her account that has limited functionality (age appropriate content accessibility etc.).
its not that time consuming to get around it all but unfortunately kids will be kids and flaunt the rules if left to their own devices.
We (adults & teens) use 1 year prepaid plan which are ozbargain approved (Coles $150 which normally goes on sale for less). We teach our teens to put data usage control on their phone and not to open too much video etc when they're on mobile data.
We also use Google family link to limit their usage, auto on & off at certain time, block certain app that we don't allow them to use, etc. Parents can give them bonus time if they run out of time and ask if they can get extra time.
If these are iPhones then there is a lot you can do with screen time.
You may be able to throttle internet speed or disable internet with your router but then they can still access the net via their phone plan.
If on android, check out Qustodio. Worked well for me. Is pretty crappy on iPhone though.
Its called disciplining your kids! Try it sometime, and you will actually get your kids to respect u, rather than be your mates
Why don't you just not allow phones in bedrooms and have them charging in the loungroom overnight? Everyone will get a lot more sleep. I wish someone would take my phone away at night lol