Parental controls have been designed to help protect young people from inappropriate online content, including adult content, restricted apps, pornography, and fake news. While available on the phone itself and on the home Wi-Fi, parental controls can be used in multiple ways. On 24 February 2022, the French National Assembly adopted the text of the law concerning the obligation to install a parental control system on all devices with a screen sold in France. According to the new law, all devices with a screen and an Internet connection sold in France will impose the default installation of a parental control system.
On 24 February 2022, the French National Assembly adopted the text of the law concerning the obligation to install a parental control system on all devices with a screen sold in France. According to the new law, all devices with a screen and an Internet connection (smartphones, tablets, PCs, etc.) sold in France will impose the default installation of a parental control system. The system will not be activated by default. It is up to the parents to enable parental control of their children’s screens.
The purpose of the mandatory integration of parental control on all devices is quite simple: let parents have this feature available and know that they can activate it in case they want to limit their children’s access to adult online content.
3 Key Features of Parental Control Applications
Parental controls have been designed to help protect young people from inappropriate online content, including adult content, restricted apps, pornography, and fake news. While available on the phone itself and on the home Wi-Fi, parental controls can be used in multiple ways.
Here are 3 things that most parental control applications can technically do :
- Block inappropriate content by setting certain filters. – Children can access only age-appropriate content.
- Authorize access to the device at certain times of the day and for a limited time. – You can limit your child’s screen time.
- Streamline the child’s accounts. – You can monitor your child’s screen activity and prevent undesired in-app purchases.
Why Talk with Your Children about Parental Controls
Although parental controls are a helpful tool, the importance of having open conversations with children and teenagers about their online safety should not be underestimated as well. Adding a parental control application in a family’s life should be done in a way that honors both children’s right to autonomy and privacy and parents’ responsibility to keep them safe in the digital environment.
In case you find it difficult to talk to your children about parental controls, have a look at these 5 tips that will help you start a conversation on this topic :
- Create a family agreement about Internet and screen use. – You should understand your child’s online preferences. You could ask them what their favorite websites, media, or games are, and why they like them. Since digital technologies are omnipresent, it is quite ineffective to completely block your children’s access to the Internet. The filtering options you put in place should correspond to your children’s age, study interests, and technological savviness.
- Develop digital skills together. – Providing children with access to the Internet is not enough. To feel safe in cyberspace, it is vital to acquire advanced digital skills that would help in using the Internet wisely and responsibly.
- Get to know positive online content. – Do not make the Internet the cause of all problems. Try to improve the quality of your children’s digital experiences by proposing to them engaging online activities and explaining to them what to do if they encounter inappropriate content.
- Discuss the potential risks online. – Educate your children about the most widespread online safety harms and issues, such as bullying, harassment, hate speech, misinformation, sexting, identity theft, and grooming.
- Be transparent and supportive. – Never hide from your children that you use a parental control app. Speak up your mind about your digital parenting strategy and invite your children to be your teammates in navigating the digital world.
