Parental Control Filter FAQ

What are Parental Control Filters?

A Parental Control Filter is a tool that helps parents protect children by monitoring the flow of information and/or restricting the use of a device such as a personal computer,  mobile phone, smart phone (“super phone”), or other handheld device.

Why do parents use Parental Control Filters?

Traditionally, parents have spent the majority of their time in a state of awareness as to who is communicating with their child.  Technology has removed from the awareness of parents a large portion of a child’s interactions.  In the “offline” physical world, parents are very careful about who and what influences their children – they would normally intervene to prevent a problem before it occurred or if a threat or bad influence attempted to communicate or go near their kids. Of course, parents teach their children who and what can be trusted and what behaviours to avoid, and over time, through this process, children learn how to keep themselves out of trouble and eventually when they are old enough can do this on their own. Parental control filters help in this process and level the playing field for parents in the information age by bringing a child’s ies and communications back into the awareness of parents.  An important aspect of parenting is teaching children the skills, tools, and judgment that keeps them not just safe but also out of trouble. Parents have needed to evolve their skills to keep up with the threats that the information age present. The pre-internet age (generally considered to be the time prior to 1995) did not present “online threats” such as “cyberbullying”,  “cyber-mobbing”, “cyber-stalking”, “sexting”, and “textual harassment.”

Also, many schools have enacted rules against activities such as cyber bullying and sexting and students engaging in these activities can be suspended or expelled from school. State and local governments are also increasingly passing legislation making text harassment, cyberbullying, cyber stalking, and sexting illegal, and depending on the severity and consequences the effects can be significant.  Sadly, in some extreme cases children have committed suicide after being subjected to relentless cyber-bullying and cyber-mobbing attacks.

Thus, it is important that parents prevent their children from unwittingly breaking school regulations and laws against cyberbullying and sexting, as well as keeping aware of the threats to their children presented by these activities.

In a different context, businesses and government agencies may also use monitoring software on phones or computers to ensure that employees do not spend time on inappropriate materials during work hours on company or government owned devices and computers.  The much publicized case of government employees at the US Securities and Exchange Commission spending sometimes as much as eight hours a day on pornographic sites certainly demonstrates the need to enforce some kind of controls on the material that can be accessed by employees.  GPS locators are being used by many businesses to improve efficiency and track the location of delivery vehicles and employees.

What kinds of Parental Control Filters are used?

There are different types of Parental Control Filters. Parental Monitoring Filters track activity, information flows, and location (GPS locators) when a cell phone or smartphone is used. Content filters are used by parents to restrict access to content that is considered age appropriate. Usage controls bock certain kinds of use, such as placing a time limit on how long a device may be used or stopping certain types of use. User/usage management tools allow guardians and parents to ensure that a specific amount of learning time is included in a child’s computing time.

Will my kids hate me if I use a Parental Control Filter?

Some parents worry that their children will think they are “spying” on them, and while some teenagers see it as an invasion of their privacy, other children feel safer knowing that mom or dad is not far away and many parents actually have better and stronger relationships with their children because they have been able to prevent them from getting into trouble before it happened.  Children are increasingly using smartphones at younger ages, and the reality of the current environment that children grow up in presents a strong argument for parental monitoring of the cyber activities of children. In recent years, mobile devices and ‘superphones’ have taken a large portion of social interaction away from the physical world and out of the awareness of parents and guardians. There are many advantages to children having cell phones and other mobile devices. Families should certainly take advantage of these benefits and use common sense parenting, education, and, until children have the judgment and skills to protect themselves, parental monitoring software. Be there for your child and be their friend, they need to trust your judgment until they have developed their own. Once they learn the judgment and skills to keep themselves safe then you can turn them loose on the world, but until that point is reached there is a compelling argument to be made for a degree of parental monitoring to keep kids out of trouble, and keep them from unintentionally running afoul of the many cyberbullying and sexting laws  that are now being passed in many areas. For these reasons, many parents consider some degree of parental monitoring of texting and other cyber activities to be good parenting.

How can I get a Parental Control Filter for my family?

Depending on the type of operating system a device is running, there are a variety of options.  These applications are usually offered as a fee based monthly service. For Android phones, Child Protect Online is a solution. These applications are usually downloaded onto the device and install quickly. Parents can then monitor information flows, activity, and track location either from their own smartphone or personal computer.

How do I use a Parental Control Filter?

For mobile devices, after download, installation, and registration of your contact information you login to the service via computer or smartphone and add the details of your child’s phone. This includes thier name, mobile number, IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number (usually found printed inside the battery compartment of the phone, also sometimes displayed by entering *#06# into the keypad on most phones) and brand name of the phone.  After that you can customize the way you want to view information, schedule how often you want to be notified of the GPS location, edit the trusted phone number list, approve/reject to decide wheather the child will be allowed to send and receive calls to a number, monitor texting, and define settings as to what information/keywords you want to be notified of.

Parental control filters are an effective tool that parents can utilize to regain awareness, help them keep their families safe, and educate their children so that they avoid problems. They are not a replacement for the effort and time that every parent must spend to build a relationship with and educate their children.

This Parental Control Filter FAQ last updated on 08/10/2010