Despite growing concerns over kids’ safety and privacy online, a recent study showed that less than half of parents use parental control software to monitor their children’s activities and/or filter inappropriate web content. If parents are truly worried, and surveys show they are, then why aren’t more of them taking steps to keep their kids out of harm’s way online? There may be as many answers to that question as there are families, but there do seem to be some common causes for the lack of Internet monitoring: Parents are busy, many fear their kids are more tech-savvy than they are, and some parental control software is costly. Thankfully, there are solutions to these problems, and they may be easier to come by than you think.
A Quick Solution for Busy Parents
Constantly checking up on kids’ Internet use can be time-consuming for parents, and let’s face it, kids don’t like it when we’re always looking over their shoulders. With Qustodio, parents can set up weekly and daily time limits for their children’s screen time and block entire categories of sites in just minutes. Once a kid’s profile is set up, the software does the rest, dynamically filtering out harmful content and letting kids know when time is up. Parents can decide whether they want Qustodio to lock the device or restrict Internet access after their kids have used their allotted time for the day. They also get weekly reports detailing children’s Internet activities, including sites visited, time spent on each site, and even social networking activity. In short, Qustodio keeps a watch over kids online and reports back to parents, making the job of digital parenting so much easier!
Easy Set-Up Makes Filtering a Breeze
Many parents today stand in awe of the tech skills of their digital natives, and it’s true—they can be a bit intimidating! Fortunately, you don’t have to be digitally savvy to benefit from parental monitoring software. Qustodio installs in minutes, and its user-friendly interface makes setting up custom profiles for kids as easy as completing an online survey. Parents can install Qustodio on their children’s Smartphones, tablets, and laptops, and monitor usage from one online dashboard.
Free or Affordable—You Choose!
Qustodio wants every child to benefit from all of the great things the web has to offer without worrying about dangers such as cyberbullying, online predators, or pornography. That’s why there is a free version of the software that is just as robust as some other paid parental controls. For families who need even more protection, Qustodio Premium is an affordable solution equipped with advanced social activity monitoring and app controls.
The Internet can be a scary place at times, but there are lots of great parental monitoring tools out there that can offer peace of mind. If you’re part of the majority of parents who have yet to equip their children’s devices with this added degree of protection, consider Qustodio. It’s a better way to protect your kids.
Qustodio Free Parental Control from Qustodio.
Contributor: Melissa Maypole is Head of Corporate Social Responsibility for Qustodio, a company that helps parents monitor children’s activities from connected devices. You can find her on Twitter @MelissaMaypole as well as on the front lines of the uphill battle to successfully parent four kids in a high-tech world.
