Parental controls are features that may be included with content monitoring software, digital television packages, mobile phones and devices, and video games that allow parents to limit their children’s access to content offered via these channels. The need for parental controls was recognized in the mid-1990s and soon a variety of controls were available to concerned parents. As parents sought to control the content that was consumed by their children on cable TV and via the Internet, various options soon started materializing to help parents protect their children from harmful or questionable content.
For computer usage, software may be installed on the target computer that allows parents to monitor and limit their children’s usage of applications, visits to certain websites, views of obscenities, social networking behavior and other programs. Generally, parental controls are available in four forms: Usage controls, content filters, monitoring tools and computer usage management programs.
One of the first technologies that enable parents to impose over their children’s Internet and cable TV viewing behavior was the content filter. The V-Chip, introduced in the 1990s, allowed parents to control children’s ability to view explicit or violent cable programs. Content filtering software is also available to enable only age-appropriate viewing of web content, chat communications and social networking interactions. Today’s parental control content filters allow the parent to specify certain keywords when configuring the software. The software may be configured to disallow web pages with the specified keyword, or the keyword may simply be blocked with a series of characters, such as exclamation points, allowing the child to view the rest of the page.
Today’s content filtering software is sophisticated compared to early versions of parental control programs. Early versions of content filtering software was sometimes easily thwarted by tech-savvy children. New versions of parental control software have anti-hacking mechanisms in place, and filter content at the protocol level.
Content may be filtered for age-appropriate access. What may be perfectly acceptable for a 14 year old may be questionable material for viewing by a five year old child. Content filters are highly configurable and the parent is able to create profiles for more than one child with most content filtering software.
Content filtering functionality is available with many of the parental control content monitoring applications designed for computers. Many content monitoring programs allow parents to enter URLs, keywords and other specifiers that are used to limit content viewable by their child. Some content filters may be configured to simply notify the parent if a certain keyword is typed or website is accessed.
Content filtering provides a parent with a level of control over their child’s online behavior. However, some content filtering features, such as those included with the WebWatcher application, will filter content, both online and offline. Depending on the level of control the parent wishes to exercise, content filtering features in parental control software will enable the parent to control the content that the child is able to access on the computer.
Usage controls are those parental controls that may be imposed to change a child’s behavior with regards to a mobile phone, TV, computer or even an automobile. Usage controls may be set for mobile devices that enable the device only during certain hours, or only for a limited amount of time during the day. Many TVs are now shipped with usage control options that allow parents to set limits on the times the TV may be on, or limit the amount of time the set may be on. Similar software is available for computers that will limit the availability of the machine to certain hours of the day. Usage controls designed for new drivers might limit the volume of the radio while the child is behind the wheel.
Monitoring tools are commonly used to monitor children’s behavior on a target computer. Many monitoring programs are available that will enable a parent to view all aspects of a child’s behavior, including Internet sites visited, Instant Messaging chats, email, application accessed, as well as other online and offline behavior.
Many monitoring tools allow for remote monitoring of the target computer. In addition, many monitoring applications provide parents with additional functionality from the administrative control panel, such as the ability to log off the current user or the ability to reboot the machine.
Monitoring a child’s online and offline behavior is a good way for parents to make sure their child is safe while using a computer.
Computer Usage Management Programs
Computer usage management programs are software applications that are used by parents to enforce learning behavior in order to earn computer time for activities, such as gaming. These sophisticated management programs will award a child with a specified amount of computer usage time based on the amount of learning material covered.
Computer usage management programs are a creative way to reward a child for completing their homework, or finishing some pre-defined learning project, by allowing them to play computer games once the task is finished. Computer usage management programs may be configured to allow a certain amount of time to access the computer for gaming or other activities once the specified task has been completed.
Parental Controls for Smartphones and Mobile Devices
Parental controls may also be applied to smartphones and other mobile devices. In 1997, Verizon introduced age-appropriate content filters for their smartphones. Today, there are several options for parental controls on smartphones and other mobile devices. WebWatcher Mobile will allow parents to monitor and control their children’s smartphone activities, including texting behaviors.