Make Your Technical Gadgets Childproof
Edited by Diana, Eng
3 Parts:
We all have asked ourselves the golden question. Is my child too young to own an iPad/tablet? Well, many parents will have different opinions on the answer to that question, but if you answered no, then hopefully this information can help us make our lives a bit easier, when handling a young child along with a iPad, tablet or any type of technology device.
8 Tips to Have Control Over your Child's Internet Viewing
- 1Is the first thing on our mind when we hand over a gadget to them, where they can access the world of the internet. What we can do to protect them from that, is to block certain things out. For example a very popular app that a child uses is YouTube, there is a great option besides the original app. It is called YouTube Kids. You can click on the following link if your phone has the App store option, YouTube Kids at iTunes. If you only have the play store, then you can follow this link, YouTube Kids at Play Store. The application is used the same way as the regular one. The great benefit that this app offers is that it has tons of restrictions! Awesome right?Protecting our children from inappropriate content.
- 2With the internet we really have NO idea what the commercial will be about, or how long will be. With this app the children will ONLY receive an advertising that is related to the video that they will watch. For example, if they look up Thomas and Friends, they will have a commercial that may speak about real trains. All of the advertising is pre-approved by YouTube Kids, it goes under many approvals before it can actually be shown to the public, and used as a piece of advertising at the beginning of the videos.Advertising.
- 3This can also be monitored very closely by us. The videos that are approved by YouTube Kids are already filter to have a young audience. But there is still a chance that there are some videos available to them, that we as parents won't agree with. We can take an extra step and take care of that concern. Once we have installed the app on the device you can take these simple steps.Videos searching.
- Open up YouTube Kids on the device.
- If this the very first time you download the app, you will have to enter some information. The first one, is the year of when the child was born, the information will not be kept, it is only to determine the age of the audience, then you will enter a code that they will provide.
- If you have done this in the past already, please ignore step 2. Once we are in, we will be asked what types of videos our children enjoy. We can select the group of our choice.
- A great thing that is offered next, is having the ability to turn on and off the search option. If we want our children to be limited to the videos that are shown in the home screen you choose the option OFF, if you are okay with them searching then you choose ON.
- 4Once the account is modified and we feel like it's safe enough for our children to use when alone, you can hand over the device. If we were ever to change our minds, and we wish to turn ON the search option, we can click on the Lock logo on the bottom right hand side of the home screen of the app. Once again, a code will be provided for a parent to enter, click on settings and and you can modify the search option.Set up.
- 5I'm positive everyone has the same problem on controlling the time usage on the device. This app has a timer integrated in it already, it makes our job a bit easier. If we wish to activated, once again we click on the LOCK logo, we enter the passcode that is provided to us, and we click where it says TIMER. We can choose the time of usage, anywhere from 1 minute up to 120 minutes, when the time is up the app will lock automatically. Amazing! Not all apps will have this timer, so we can utilize the timer in our phones or the device itself. Make sure that we we set a time, we respect it, that way our children will learn to follow and respect the rules that come along with having a device like this.Time.
- 6Checking the history of the device the child uses is essential, some ground rules should be placed. The history is easily erased, if our kids are not so young anymore I'm sure it's easy for them to figure out how to delete. Telling them that if the history has been cleared, the device is off limits until they follow the rules. Another option would be to purchase the Forcefield Parental Control Software. It has received amazing reviews on being able to track absolutely everything that they do on cellphones, social media, chats, text messages, internet browsing, among many others. Each child will receive his/her own profile.History.
- 7We as parents should always be aware of the passwords our children have in any type of account they may have created. The devices have been given to them to enjoy and have it when necessary for homework or class work. Kids should not feel like the have the right to have "privacy", that comes along with age and maturity.Full access.
- 8We must make our children aware that if they choose to have a social media account, they should not add or talk to people they do not personally know. Along with that should be to not share their location. Sometimes they want to share for the innocent fact that they are having fun or doing something "cool". Unfortunately we don't always know who is on the other side of the monitor.Safety first.
Keeping the Device Clean and Presentable
- 1Sometimes it does not really matter how old your child is, they can get them dirty by their tiny little fingerprints or crumbs caused by eating a cookie while watching their favorite show. We must show them at an early age that we must keep our device clean and take care of it properly in order to have it functioning correctly for a longer period of time. A recommend age for a child to start using tablets, ipads, or watching something on the cellphone is about 3-5 years old with a recommended time of one hour a day. A child of age from 6-18 should be limited to 2 hours a day. A young child from age 0 months to 2 years old should not be exposed to any technology at all. This are known to be recommendations looking out for the interest of the child.Age.
- 2There is so many options to choose from when it comes to covers and screen protectors. One thing you should definitely look for is a cover that can offer protection for, drops, scratches, dust and broken screens. It has been known that Otter Box works very well to keep devices in the original shape. They do tend to be a bit bulky, if prefer not to choose this option, you can look for other options to protect the actual device and then add a tempered glass protector to the screen. They can protect from scratches, and fingerprints on the screen, it does only cover the flat area of the screen. Another cool thing about the tempered glass, is that it prevents glares on the screen and bubbles!Protection.
- 3We must keep them away from both! Teach our children, that they are not allowed to use them during any meal of day. To not consume any type of liquid around the device. If it is really necessary to have a drink. You can keep a glass of water near by, and always remember to put the device down when having a drink. The crumbs can get in between the cover and the device and that can scratch the screen. Same thing with liquid, if it were to enter under the cover, it could reach the speakers and they would be ruined.Liquids and food.
- 4Even though the iPad will be protected with the screen cover, screen protector, it is always better to be on the safe side. Every time our children have possession of the device, lets make sure we constantly watch them, ask them to sit down in a place of their choice. Avoid running, jumping, throwing it while using it. These things don't come cheap! Let's try to make them last as long as we possibly can!Guard the device.
If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.
Comments
Article Info
Categories : Family
Recent edits by: Diana
