Even when you talk openly with your kids about screentime and online safety, it can be tough to manage how they use the internet when you’re not around.
Online safety is crucial due to the prevalence of the internet in young people’s lives:
- 95% of teens aged 13 to 17 have used social media
- Two-thirds of teens have their own mobile devices with internet connectivity
- Teens are online almost nine hours per day on average
- 97% of teenage boys and 73% of teenage girls play online games
If your kids are active online and on social media, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the parental controls you can use to keep them safe.
Accessing the internet comes with an inherent risk. Children and teens can be exposed to strangers, inappropriate content, and levels of screen time that are harmful for young minds.
Parental controls provide a way to help you track your kids’ online activity, set guardrails around screen time and internet usage, and block some types of threats.
The Importance of Parental Controls
Unrestricted access to social media and the internet carries many risks for children:
- Emotional and developmental issues. Excessive screen time and social media use can hinder social and emotional development and contribute to issues such as obesity, poor sleep, depression, aggressive behavior, and anxiety.
- Exposure to explicit or inappropriate content. The internet and social media make it possible for children to view inappropriate, violent, or sexually explicit content without their parent’s knowledge or consent.
- Cyberbullying. In a Pew Research study, nearly half of U.S. teens aged 13 to 17 reported experiencing cyberbullying. The likelihood of cyberbullying and the types of bullying vary based on age, gender, and other factors.
- Online predators. Adult predators use the internet to target children. According to the FBI, there were more than 500,000 active online predators each day in 2021 alone.
- Phishing scams. Young people can be targets of phishing scams, where criminals pose as legitimate individuals or organizations to trick kids into sending money or handing over personal data. According to the FBI’s latest Internet Crime Report, people under 20 reported $22.5 million in losses to internet crimes and online scams.
While parental controls can’t eliminate all these threats, they can set guardrails around your child’s internet usage and help reduce the risk of threats.
How to Enable Parental Controls on Social Media
To help protect your kids on social media, it’s important to use the tools these platforms provide as a first line of defense. Here are the parental control options for some of the most popular online social media platforms for kids and teens:
TikTok
To configure parental controls on TikTok, you will need to create a TikTok account and use Family Pairing to link your account with your child’s. This allows you to customize account settings, which can include:
- Screen time limits. Set daily screen time limits, schedule downtime away from TikTok, set up screen breaks, and set sleep reminders to minimize distractions when your kids should be sleeping. You can receive weekly updates on your child’s screen usage.
- Content filtering. Customize the content your children can view by restricting and filtering out keywords and turning on educational STEM-related content on your child’s feed.
- Customized notifications. Determine when your child will receive push notifications from the app, as well as customize what type of push notifications your child should receive.
- Privacy settings. TikTok users aged 13 to 15 have their accounts set to private by default, but those settings can be changed. You can use parental controls to lock in privacy settings and determine privacy settings for each video your child shares.
- Contact preferences. You can set up who is allowed to contact your child on TikTok, limit comments or set comment filters, and more to promote safe communication.
YouTube
To manage your child’s YouTube or YouTube Kids account, you can set up Family Link to manage the following settings:
- Restricted mode. You can switch on restricted mode to block most types of mature content.
- Account supervision. For children under 13, you can supervise their activity and choose from three content settings to determine what they can access.
- Disable Autoplay. You can turn off Autoplay to keep new videos from automatically playing every time a video ends and turn off content histories to keep YouTube from automatically pushing new videos that align with your kid’s viewing interests.
- Monitor YouTube activity. You can monitor your child’s YouTube activity by signing into their account and navigating to the settings to view account history. If your child turns this setting off, your parent account will receive a notification.
Snapchat
Snapchat has several safety and privacy settings turned on by default for users aged 13 to 17. Teen accounts are automatically set to private and can only interact with friends, but those settings can be altered.
You must have a Snapchat account and the app installed on your own device to enable the following settings for your child’s account:
- Contact monitoring. View your child’s full friends list, see who they’ve been chatting with on the app, and disable AI chatbots.
- Content filtering. Restrict sensitive or mature content from your child’s feed.
- Location tracking. Request your child’s location on Snap Map to see where they are.
- Notification filtering. Customize the push notifications your child receives to cut down on the noise.
Instagram has the following parental controls and safety features to help keep your kids safe on the platform:
- Parental supervision. Parents can send requests to initiate supervision from a child’s account and view their time on the app, who they follow and who follows them, and other activities.
- Content filtering. You can filter out specific keywords or phrases that may be harmful for your child to view.
- Contacts filtering. Instagram restricts adults on Instagram from sending private chats to teens they aren’t connected with. You can also limit who can contact your child and comment on their posts.
- Screen time limits. You can set daily screen time limits to keep your kids from scrolling Instagram for hours at a time.
Related: 5 Things You Should Not Share on Social Media
Other Digital Tools for Parents
Configuring the parental controls for every social media platform your child uses can help promote better safety and screen time habits.
But there are some other powerful internet safety tools you can use to cast a wider net across multiple online platforms and devices:
- Device settings. Many smartphones, tablets, and PCs offer parental control features that can override certain app settings and prevent unauthorized purchases, block specific apps, set screen limits, and more.
- Third party parental control apps. There are several parental control apps that allow you to filter, block, and monitor the websites and apps used by your child, set screen limits, track your child’s location, monitor communications, and more.
- Antivirus software. Many devices come with antivirus software built in, and you can opt for greater protection by purchasing an antivirus program. These solutions can protect your devices from viruses, scan your computer for threats, and help your kids avoid downloading or clicking on something they shouldn’t.
- Virtual private networks (VPNs). VPNs hide your IP address and encrypt your data as you use the web, making it difficult for criminals and other third parties to monitor your online activity. If your kid’s devices are hooked up with a VPN, they can stay more anonymous online.
- Gaming controls. Many online game platforms come with parental control settings for underage users. For example, in Fortnite parents can manage online chat settings, filter out mature language, and require a PIN for in-app purchases.
Learn more about keeping your kids safe in online gaming spaces:
Parental Controls FAQs
Below are some of the most common questions parents ask when setting up parental controls: 1) What are the most important online safety tips for parents?
Set clear screen-time limits, use parental controls, and talk regularly with your kids about safe behavior, privacy, and recognizing scams.
2) How do I use parental controls on social media?
Enable each app’s family/supervision tools (e.g., privacy, content filters, time limits) and restrict who can contact your child on TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram.
3) What tools protect kids across all their devices?
Combine device-level settings with security software like IdentityIQ and reputable parental control apps; identity protection solutions with monitoring and reporting add another layer.
The Parental Control Benefits of IdentityIQ
Identity protection with IdentityIQ comes with a full suite of tools you can use to help keep your child safe online. Here are some of the family benefits you get with IdentityIQ:
- Bitdefender® Total Security. IdentityIQ plans bundled with Bitdefender® Total Security can include the following safety benefits:
- Antivirus. Get software to help protect your devices from malware, ransomware, phishing scams, and zero-day attacks.
- Multi-device VPN. Help keep your information shielded and prevent third parties like websites, advertisers, and criminals from tracking you and your children online.
- App monitoring. View what apps your children are using and how often they use them across multiple devices.
- Content filtering. Block your child from viewing specific types of online searches and content with age-appropriate filters and custom settings.
- Phone contact access. Check who your child has in their contacts list on social media, chat websites, and text messages.
- Screen time monitoring. Monitor your child’s screen time across multiple devices and set limits, focus time, or family time.
- Online activity summary. Receive a summary report of how your child spends their time online, along with real-time alerts when we detect your child trying to access something they shouldn’t.
- Identity theft insurance. IdentityIQ plans include up to $1 million in identity theft coverage4, reimbursing you for qualified losses or expenses related to recovering your identity.
- Identity restoration experts. Our team of identity restoration experts can help build you a custom action plan when you discover you or your child has become a victim of identity theft. They can help you fill out paperwork, contact your authorities and creditors, and restore your family’s identity.
Keep Your Family Safe in Today’s Online World
Teens spend nearly nine hours online each day on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram. Parental controls are essential for managing screen time, protecting against online threats, and promoting healthy digital habits.
Enhance your family’s online safety with IdentityIQ family protection plans, including parental controls and online safety tools powered by Bitdefender® Total Security.
Get the tools you need to create a safer online experience for you and your family when you get started with IdentityIQ today.
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