In the current tech-savvy era where everything is globally accessible for all of us, it is hard to provide a safe environment for our kids. Especially the serious behavioral and moral issues we have observed over decades in this generation have made the accessibility of the internet for kids questionable.
In this context, many internet service providers in the United States have introduced parental control features in all their internet plans, deals, or bundle offers. One of such ISPs is Spectrum internet which is providing a great opportunity for us to monitor and manage the activities of our kids over the internet 24/7.
Thus your kids feel comfortable while browsing different websites and don’t question you for breaching their privacy. If you want to learn the importance of parental control features for your internet connection, keep reading this blog until the end.
Parental Controls – The Need of the Hour
Various schools of thought believe that there should be some age restrictions for preventing our kids from certain types of content over the internet or to define clear boundaries for each age bracket regarding what to and what not to watch on the internet. These attempts, however, are effective to some extent but there is a lot we need to do.
Moreover, our busiest lifestyle has also provided enough room for our kids to get into inadequate online activities. It is hard for us to keep checking what our young members are doing on the internet especially when we are not around.
Therefore, the parental control feature is a perfect solution for restricting access to inappropriate content abundantly available on the internet. We know that there are plenty of websites embedding violence, aggression, immorality, and other traits in the mind of our kids. Such content is the biggest threat to parents and can cause severe damage to the upbringing of our kids.
Do You Really Need Parental Controls?
Before proceeding, you need to determine if you really need to activate this feature. To make it simple, we have added five aspects that will assist you in deciding whether to activate parental controls or not for all the devices connected to your internet connection.
So without further ado, let’s explore them all!
Five Hints that Indicate You Need to Activate Parental Controls on Your Devices
The primary safety tool for attaining digital safety for your kids is you. Try to be honest and verbal while discussing the importance of parental control over online activities with your kids. But for having a thorough and fruitful discussion, you need to have a sound understanding of the significance of parental control.
Similarly, you should learn about digital tools available online to enforce restrictions for and monitor online activities, because practically you can’t stay watchful for the online activities of your kids around the clock, so educate yourself in this area before activating it.
Check out our guide of five hints that indicate you need to activate parental controls on your devices.
1. Loss of Interest
The initial hint for determining the overuse of the internet in your kids is they frequently start slipping off their responsibilities and homework. You must have noticed a decline in their grades and interest in certain activities they used to love to do. Moreover, your kids get excited when it comes to doing anything online rather than physically.
Similarly, they have started spending more time on the internet rather than going outside and playing with their siblings or playmates.
How to handle it?
You can monitor or restrict the time they spend on the internet by using software applications. Simply install software that allows you to limit time for surfing the internet across your kids’ devices. So you can easily resume self-discipline and balance your kids to meeting educational and family responsibilities.
2. Age-Restricted Content on their Browser History
The second red flag is finding their browser history loaded with some age-restricted content. We know that every link that appears on your browser does not land you on a safe or decent website. This can be the greatest risk for the innocent minds of your kids.
Moreover, usually kids access such websites out of curiosity and thus gradually become addicted to inappropriate content.
How to handle it?
You can avert such risks by activating the parental control feature across all smart devices connected to your internet connection. This feature will help you to automatically filter out web searches, websites, and apps, and exclude inappropriate content.
3. Kids Start Getting Violent When Ask for Their Devices
The third hint is your kids get rebellious when you ask them for their devices. It seems like the only interest in a kid’s life is the smartphone, and he/she cannot share it with anyone at any cost. Your kids start yelling or even fighting with you whenever you ask for their phones. This is the time when should take serious initiative.
After all, it is a matter of their emotional and mental well-being and safety. Chances are great that your kid is learning such behavior from his/her online activities or the wrong company, and being stressed about attaining tech balance.
How to handle it?
Whatever the reason behind it, you can overcome this behavior by proper execution of parental control features. You can set limits for internet usage time, block access for inadequate content, and monitor the daily online activities of your kids with parental control tools.
4. Inadequate Sleep Hours
If your kids are not getting enough sleep or their sleeping hours are not normal this can also be a sign that they are staying awake lately to stream their favorite content when you are sleeping.
How to handle it?
With the parental control feature, you can set a timer for allowing them access to the internet during specific hours only. It is the easiest way to bring them back to a healthy routine so they can have a sufficient amount of sleep every day.
5. Unnecessary Demand for Secrecy
Privacy is the basic right of every individual but if you observe that your kid is seeking unnecessary privacy, it is a red flag. Also if you see that they are more into chatting with online friends or sharing too much personal information on the internet, it is your call to activate parental controls on their devices.
How to handle it?
Through parental controls, you can watch and monitor daily posts of your kids on social media. Check out what interpersonal and emotional problems your kids are sharing over the internet so you can understand how you can help them before someone else does.
Get Help from Your ISP
Luckily, many leading ISPs in the United States of America are already offering parental control features with their internet, home phone, and cable TV services. All you need to do is to contact your ISP to discuss your concern and to activate this feature. You can reach out to the customer support rep via the contact number provided by the ISP for its customers.
If you are a Spectrum customer, simply click here to reach out to the customer support team of Spectrum to get any help.
In a Nutshell
You can easily get your hand on the parental control feature as various ISPs are facilitating their customers with this feature without even charging a single buck. Check out BuyTVInternetPhone to access such ISPs in your area.
Similarly, now the manufacturers are also adding this feature to their smart devices foreseeing the need in the customer market. For instance, if the devices you have at your home lack such features, you can contact your ISP to provide you with parental controls.
