Most parents dream of network control programs: how to get a child off the Internet

Another opinion poll showed that 83% of Russian parents want schoolchildren to sit on the Internet as little as possible. Such dreams are especially aggravated in the summer, when children have free time. Now many of them have no volleyball, rivers, forests, or even walks with friends. And day and night – one continuous Internet …

A survey conducted among 600 respondents from different parts of the country showed that modern parents are incorrigible dreamers. Especially among teenagers – 32% want their grown-up offspring to spend at the computer and phone 2 hours a day. 23% of respondents would like to limit this time to just one hour a day, 19% are ready for a more realistic 3 hours. And all together (83% of respondents) dream of using the service to control the time of children’s access to a smartphone and “other mobile devices”.

– Such software (software. – Auth.) has existed for a long time, and in large quantities and assortment, – says programmer Ivan Berezin. – In addition, starting this year, many social networks have installed “family filters”. In order for parents to monitor the accounts of their children, there you can limit the time in the settings. In addition, free parental control features are built into the basic settings of iPhones, they only need to be activated. And in general, so much has been created – from simply limiting the time a child spends on the Web, to automatically blocking unwanted content and messages that are written to a dubious addressee.

And the forms of software are also different: programs, applications, network filters, OS software shells. There are free ones, but more paid products, of course. And there is good domestic software on this topic.

Indeed, when talking about time limits on the Internet, it is difficult to ignore network security – most parental control services can do both. As another recent survey showed, parents are worried not only by the fact that the child is stuck on the phone for hours, but also by the content that he surfs there. Where does he go, with whom does he correspond. 89% of respondents considered the Internet a safety hazard for children. Parents are afraid that an unfamiliar adult will start correspondence with the child and start sending obscenities. And the child will still leak personal data to such a character. Parents also admitted that they are afraid of cyberbullying.

So, installing a “family control” application on your phone will help not only limit the time spent on the Web, but also create a visit schedule for the child. Customize content – delete or block all unnecessary erotica, scenes of violence, etc. In addition, parents will be able to receive reports on which applications and programs their child downloads. Or where it goes – there are services with such capabilities.

But that’s not all. There are applications that operate on the principle of “refusing to offer.” Instead of blocked ones, they offer useful resources – creative, educational, gaming. Such as programs for drawing, for example, or game-based language learning, entertaining science, etc.

“Family” software shells are designed so that the parent can create a separate children’s profile on a computer or on a phone – to create a separate children’s account, already endowed with a number of those functions that the parent considers safe. Another option is children’s trackers, which not only track the movement of the child with geolocation, but also the movement on the Web: on which sites and social networks it happens, with whom it communicates.

Well, probably the toughest option is keyloggers. These applications, which can be installed on the phone discreetly, will intercept and send to the parent all messages that the child sends from his phone. It is clear that their use is questionable from a moral point of view, like any “spy” equipment: wiretapping of calls, interception of videos and chats (and such exist). But if, let’s say, there are real fears that someone much older started a game with the child or that the child is being bullied (cyberbullying), the keylogger is probably good.

“Yes, we use a family filter,” says Antonina, mother of 13-year-old Amelia. But life makes adjustments. Especially during the time limit: often, especially during the holidays, the daughter asks for a parental access code to be sent. Like, she didn’t meet, she was waiting for a message from someone, or she didn’t have time to finish writing it herself. I use this code to improve “negotiability”. Like, if you clean your room, read a book from the summer list, or help your grandmother in the kitchen, I will send the code. This is how the “family filter” works.

Other parents share life hacks on how to still use the services for their intended purpose. “It’s better to pay and live in peace,” says the father of 8-year-old Grisha, Evgeny. – In this case, free applications either have a weak filter, or an antediluvian interface, or minimal statistics. Therefore, it is better to pay here than to treat a child’s computer addiction later.” Parents share the pros and cons of different software – some have good filters, others have clear settings, others are the most reliable, which is almost the most important thing in modern realities.

“The child hacked the parental control program” – such a cry of the parental soul is often heard on the Internet. Even younger schoolchildren got the hang of removing restrictions on the computer. Advanced child users manage to change settings in filters and trackers, and even accounts in the OS. Or even simpler – make yourself another account and go anywhere from it … You can console yourself that such involuntary skills of a hacker pump computer science knowledge in children.

“I agree that direct time limits today can only work with younger students, not older than 8 years old,” says social psychologist Valery Raushinsky. – Because in modern realities, 9-10 years is already pre-puberty. And for all sorts of restrictions, tracking and other things, the child can not only be offended, but start to rebel. So, it seems to me that regular conversations, explanations with arguments, and not just “no, I said so” will help more against dangerous content and unwanted acquaintances. Not “not possible”, but why “not worth it”. Of course, we must strive to ensure that in their free time the child spends less time on the Web. 2-3 hours is pretty unrealistic, more like the truth 4-6 hours. I am opposed to forbidding a child to go online or play games or use social networks at all. This is a direct path to social isolation in modern conditions, when children at recess, if they don’t play and exchange memes, then they discuss it anyway. And yet such artificial otherness is a ready ground for neurosis and social rejection, which can painfully backfire in adulthood.