Parental Controls

• Parental controls can help keep children and young people safer online by preventing access to harmful content, managing time spent online and who your child communicates with.  
• To be most effective, parental controls need to be set up on all devices your child accesses. They should be revisited and maintained regularly. It is also important that controls are set on devices your child may access while in the care of others (family, friends).
• Parental controls are most effective when used alongside supervision and other online safety strategies.

What are parental controls?

Parental controls are software tools that allow you to monitor and limit what your child sees and does online.  

They can be set up to do things like: 

• Block your child from accessing specific websites, apps or functions (like using a device’s camera, or the ability to buy things). 
• Filter inappropriate content.
• Limit who can communicate with your child, and manage the apps they can use to communicate with others.
• Allow you to monitor your child’s use of connected devices, with reports on the sites they visit and the apps they use, how often and for how long.  
• Set time limits, blocking access after a set time. 

Applying parental controls to desktop and laptop computers

PC/Windows 

Microsoft FamilyExternal link provides the ability to manage your children’s online activity on Windows devices through website blocking, checking in online at any time, and viewing activity reports on sites, apps and games visited. You’ll need to set up a family group of at least one parent and one child, each with their own Microsoft account.  

Mac OS 

The OSX Parental ControlsExternal link allows you to set profiles for each child to do things like limiting access to websites or apps, restrict functions like Siri or the iTunes store, set time limits for days of the week and for bedtime, and hide profanity in the dictionary and other sources.  

Applying parental controls to mobile devices

iPads and iPhones

Apple operating systems from iOS12 enable you to restrict access to browsers and applications, in-app purchasing, social networking, non-child friendly internet content, sharing of data (including photos and location), media streaming and online gaming. Find out how here. 

If you are concerned about your child seeing unwanted images and videos, consider turning on 'Sensitive Content Warning' on their Apple device. It is available to users of all ages. Access it by searching for 'Communication Safety' or 'Sensitive Content' in settings.

Android tablets and smartphones 

Although Android has no general built-in parental control features, Android devices can be controlled using Google Family Link.

You can also set up parental controls on Google PlayExternal link to restrict the content your child can download or purchase.

Other mobile devices

They may not be the first devices that come to mind when you think about online safety, but it’s important to consider all online devices your children might use, including wi-fi enabled sound systems, fitness trackers and smartwatches. Garmin fitness trackers have parental controls, and Fitbits allow parents and carers to manage children’s accounts.

Smartwatch settings are connected to the user account, such as Apple or Google. Some e-readers, such as Kindle, also include parental controls. 

Remember, you will need to set up your parental controls on these and other devices – they are not usually automatic. You should also check them from time to time to be sure your settings haven’t changed if the device software has been updated.

For more information about parental controls, please visit the eSafety Commissioner website.