I was astonished to learn that various studies (from University of New Hampshire, University of Alberta) show that between 40% to 80% of kids have viewed adult content on the Internet. Our kid is young, we still have a few years before this becomes a concern for us. He needs to learn how to read and write (or type) first. Nevertheless, we already start collecting ideas from other parents about how they monitor their kids 'online life'. However most of those tips, such as having computers only in the living room, apply only to Internet surfing through desktop or laptop computers.
Mobile Internet surfing increasing at a rapid rate. Mobile devices are super portable and have small screens that makes them more 'personal' than desktop and laptop computers. This makes monitoring kid's online activities on those devices much more difficult. Luckily iPhone and iPod Touch support parental controls for Internet browsing, iPod movies, YouTube, iTunes, installing apps and using camera app.
How to setup parental controls for iPhone or iPod Touch?
For enabling restrictions, first run Settings, then select General, and then select Restrictions. Pressing on 'Enable Settings' button will direct you to enter a 4 digit passcode. After you entered your passcode, you can then select which applications you need to set restrictions for. Screen shot on the right shows disabling iPod explicit content, Safari and Installing apps.
You may want to write your passcode down. If you forget your passcode you have no choice but to reset your device. When you reset, you lose all your app data, such as your game scores. Resetting can be done by running Settings, selecting General, Reset, and 'Reset all settings'.
When Safari browsing is disabled, your kids will not be able to access even the useful Internet content, such as Wikipedia or dictionaries. In this case you may like to install a kid-friendly browser with content restrictions to porn, gaming, and other inappropriate web content on iPhone and iPod Touch. Such browsers include Mobicip browser, which is a free app, iWonder Surf Web Browser available for $14.99 and Safe Eyes Mobile available for $19.99. You can find review of Mobicap here.
Do you have additional tips, concerns that you'd like to talk about? Drop us a note.
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Beware - there are hacks out there that bypass the restrictions and keep in mind that there is no way to restrict connectivity absolutely. This happened with our son - thought we were safe and then the hack opened up everything. Watch out! Be sure to also set your parental controls on iTunes.
Posted by: Martin | 03/31/2010 at 02:40 PM
Yes. iPhone and ipod are all good touch phones. There are perfect functions.
Posted by: Cell Phone | 08/24/2010 at 02:43 AM
Don't forget to monitor and block iBooks usage, too! iBooks currently offers no limitations... just do a quick search inthe iBook store of the worst thing you wouldn't want your child to see. There will be a free book that can be downloaded instantly.
These devices are not for children to have on their own and use whenever they want.
Posted by: K L | 10/16/2010 at 07:05 AM
Mobile Internet surfing increasing at a rapid rate. This makes our life wonderful.
Posted by: Touch Phones | 12/08/2010 at 09:08 PM
We just were told to turn the tv off as kids. Now we have to watch our kids at every turn, their laptops, the family computer and now their iPhones. We found an app in the iTunes store called Littleye and its nothing short of amazing. We can relax a bit more (for now) knowing we as parents can have some control over what they access. I can't tell you how good it feels to be able to let your kids use technology and still have control over it.
Posted by: Georgia C | 03/27/2011 at 09:39 AM
I would not give an iPhone or iPod touch to any tech savy kid. You access the internet in about 50% of the apps, even way Safari is disabled. For example, the facebook app has direct internet access. So if you want to completely lock the phone down, you will need to disable: Safari, You Tube, and the ablity to install programs. Then you need to individually check each app for access to the web. If the app has a way to link to facebook or twitter inside the app, most likely it can get to any web page.
Posted by: Danny | 08/21/2011 at 08:59 PM
This is a great article, thanks for sharing. I'm always looking for way to protect my kids and while they can outsmart me sometimes, articles like this help me stay sharp with all this new technology :)
Posted by: Ana BW | 09/05/2011 at 01:36 AM