Family Tech Blog

Tag: safe online

  • Parental Control Options for Your Kids’ Chromebook

    Parental Control Options for Your Kids’ Chromebook

    The Chromebook is unique because it isn’t really a full fledge computer. They are designed to just run a browser so you can access the internet. This makes them affordable and easy to use. Because of this the Chromebook is often the chosen computer for schools. So your child may have been assigned a Chromebook when they were enrolled in school. While they must have content controls set while they are on school property there aren’t any regulations requiring schools to keep them protected while off campus. Here are some options for how you can protect your kids while they use their Chromebooks.

    Supervised User

    UPDATE: Google has discontinued Supervised User in favor of FamilyLink.

    This is an account based system that’s built into the Chrome browser. It allows you to set filters, monitor sites visited, prevent installation of apps, turn on safesearch, and change settings. You do have to use blacklists or whitelists to block websites, there is not an automatic filter built in. I recommend using THIS LIST of blacklist sites provided by a University in France. It’s a pretty extensive set of blacklists and will take some effort to set up but if you don’t want to just set the Chromebook to only access a few domains then copy pasting sites from these lists is your best option. You can access the supervised accounts by going to chrome.google.com/manage.

    Click THIS LINK to see Google’s set up instructions for a supervised user account.

    MobiCip

    One of the only full service filter and monitoring apps for Chromebook, Mobicip offers a plugin that you can download from the Chrome app store. Mobicip will give you customizable filters, time limit controls, and usage reports and its pretty easy to set up. You just download the extension from the Chrome app store and then login. It takes you through the setup steps and lets you set your desired filter levels. Once it’s all set up you can make changes from anywhere using their web based controls dashboard. Their SUPPORT page has good How-To resources to walk you through the process.

    If you want more controls than the Supervised User option gives you then Mobicip is a pretty good choice. It’s $39.99 per year for all of the features mentioned above for up to five devices. If you are going to need to protect more than twenty devices (I’ve met families with upwards of 30) then you’ll have to get a quote for their “Enterprise” option. Mobicip is a good option and will give you quite a bit of control.

    Accountable2You

    The final option is an accountability software. This, combined, with the Supervised User Account may be all you need.  Accountability software doesn’t block content. This software will keep an eye on what’s being viewed and then red flag and report anything that it deems inappropriate. This allows you to more easily see when something questionable has been viewed. Otherwise you’ll spend time sifting through link after unrecognizable link to find something that may be naughty. You can even set up Accountable2You to send you a text message when an inappropriate site was accessed. The software works across all of your devices including Chromebook and is $6.99 per month for six devices and $9.99 per month for twenty devices. They have easy setup instructions on their SUPPORT page and have excellent customer service.

    Whether your kids got Chromebooks from you to help with schoolwork or they were school issued, it’s critical that you have some sort of parental control solution set up. I recommend using one or more of these to set up a plan to help your kids be safer online. The statistics say that only one out of every three kids who saw something inappropriate online was looking for it. The fact that you have well behaved children doesn’t apply here. The internet isn’t well behaved and we have to make the effort to keep them safe.

    This article contains affiliate links…

  • Everyone You Know Uses Instagram Stories

    Everyone You Know Uses Instagram Stories

    There are those who made fun of Instagram for copying the Snapchat stories feature. Some of us saw it as a step towards saving Instagram from going the way of MySpace. Today, they’ve announced that the stories feature has 200 million daily users. That’s 40 million more than Snapchat announced this winter when they took their company public. To celebrate this momentous occasion they’ve added a few more features that Snapchat has had for a while. You can now add more stickers to your stories and even pin them to something in your video so they’ll move with you. They’ve also included Geostickers for several new cities.

    These stickers, no matter what social media platform they’re on, are causing a term to enter the conversation that may have some parents scratching their heads. AR. AR stands for augmented reality which is exactly what it sounds like. Using your camera, these apps view the real world and then change it in whatever way you choose. Whether it’s a dog mask that pants when you open your mouth or stickers of bunny ears to celebrate easter, AR allows you to apply animation or illustrations to your images and videos. This is a popular feature that folks have been using for a while and it’s now been spotted by advertisers as a major opportunity for promotions. That’s why you’ll see masks featuring the latest movie release or a filter that has the logo of a make up product or beverage in the corner. AR is the new Television commercial but people are actually paying attention to it. Instagram’s celebration of these numbers with more AR features is guaranteed to bring in more users and more advertisers.

     

    What Parents Should Know

    Your kids and teens love nothing more than making silly faces in their selfies and sharing them with their friends. It’s good fun and usually not a big deal. Obviously advertising is everywhere and it was only a matter of time (it’s already been happening for a while) until marketing companies caught on that this was the best way to gain access to young people. I would expect more and more advertisers to jump on this bandwagon in the near future. The thing for parents to keep in mind is that these social media options allow marketers to identify their niche audience more easily and reach them more frequently. They can target age groups, locations, and even specific likes and dislikes to cater their marketing for that audience. 

    AR is just where entertainment is right now for our young people. Advertisers have always looked to target them in the cheapest and most direct way possible. My advice is simply to be aware of the amount of time your kid is spending on social media. There are always dangers that we want to keep them from but, while I wouldn’t call it dangerous, the constant barrage of advertising can become worrisome for some kids. My strongest advice is for you to get an account on the social media services your children use and get to know them a little bit. At worst you’ll have to see some dumb ads and lots of dog faces, at best you could have something in common to talk with your teenager about.

  • These Games Let Your Tween Play Out Their Own Soap Opera

    These Games Let Your Tween Play Out Their Own Soap Opera

    I was doing research for an app to write about when an ad came up. The ad was for a game called Episode and it featured cartoon animated teen girls in situations that would only come from some mid-day television show. For example there was one girl deciding whether or not to perform CPR on her shirtless and handsome male companion. He winks at the “camera” and she thinks he may be faking so the player gets to chose her next move. “Perform CPR” or “Kiss him to find out.” This scenario is one of thousand available on these games that are developed by a company called Episode Interactive.

    Their apps are all interactive story games that put the player in control of the choices of the main characters. Each app features thousands of stories to play out. The scenarios feature romance, mystery, comedy, family, and a bunch more. The situations that the character is placed in during the stories can often be very adult oriented. Decisions whether or not to have sex. A choice to run away from a potential mugger or try to attack them back. There are some very dramatic and grown up themes in these games. A look at the description will tell you that the games are rated for ages twelve and over for various reasons including, sexual themes, drugs and alcohol, violence, and nudity.

    These games are a choose your own adventure of sorts for the new generations. They target young tweens with the glam of what it’s like to be a teenager or what High School life is like. It’s all obviously very fictitious but our kids buy these messages hook, line, and sinker. Think of apps like this as romance novels that are targeting your ten to twelve year old daughter. I say it’s targeting tweens because the app I was reviewing when I saw the ad for Episode was one that is obviously mostly populated with young girls. Your daughters will believe a message about who they are and what gives them value. Apps like this are speaking to a certain version of that message. We as parents must play defence against the wrong message to successfully teach the correct message.

    What Parents Can Do

    My advice is to make sure your child is far older than the recommended age for these games before you let them play. They are obviously meant to mimic the soap operas of our parent’s days and they feature exactly the same types of themes. The maturity of your child is best understood by you, their parent. It is usually not a good idea to take the age recommendation of an app, game, or other form of entertainment as the law and gospel. You have to use your own judgement. Unfortunately for some kids these themes are mild compared to things they’ve dealt with in real life. But for many of our ten, eleven, and twelve year olds, these games can introduce topics that they may not be mature enough yet to navigate. That’s why it’s so important for you as a parent to step in and see what they’re doing on their phone or tablet.

    Apps like Episode are easy to spot because they don’t hide their themes in the ads on the app store. It’s pretty obvious what they feature in your game. My advice is to use something like Google Play’s parental settings, or Apple’s Family Sharing to ensure you’re seeing every app being installed by your kids. If you see something that looks like it could be a choose your own adventure style of soap opera game then think seriously about the potential questions your child will be asked while they play it.

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  • YouTube Kids Adding Original Shows and SmartTV Support

    YouTube Kids Adding Original Shows and SmartTV Support

    YouTube Kids has now been around for over two years. I’m still amazed how many parents don’t know about the curated kids streaming app. It is a pretty good safe alternative to YouTube’s more open and unsecure content. An announcement today could make YouTube Kids an even better option for your family.

    Today YouTube announced that they are going to launch four new original shows on the kids app. The shows will use people who already have a strong YouTube presence and be available only to YouTube RED subscribers. Shows like “Fruit Ninja; Frenzy Force” will be designed for younger kids while there will be a couple of shows, such as “Hyperlinked” (starring tween YouTube Music stars L2M) that are geared for children a bit older. There are more shows scheduled for the lineup and they range from animated cartoons to unscripted reality shows.

    Along with this announcement, YouTube has said they will soon be rolling out support for YouTube Kids to be viewed on SmartTVs from Samsung and LG. This will mean that content from YouTube Kids can come to life on a larger screen and be viewed more easily by more of the family at the same time. It seems that YouTube is really working to become a major player in the streaming entertainment world. New YouTube Red shows are coming out all the time and you can see many YouTube stars being interviewed on more mainstream media talk shows like Jimmy Fallon to promote YouTube’s original content. We are entering a new age in digital entertainment so be ready and pay attention.

    What Parents Should Know

    YouTube Kids is a good option for parents whose children enjoy watching videos on the streaming service. It’s a lot better than the YouTube app in which they can be as few as two clicks away from some type of violent or inappropriate adult content. While YouTube Kids is better, it isn’t without it’s faults. You will still want to put your eyes on what your children are watching every now and then. The original content means that, if you’re a RED subscriber, you will have a bit more than the clips from PBS shows, lets play, toy unboxing, and science videos. That’s a good thing but you’ll want to be aware of which shows are designed for what age audience. The trend is for messages in kids entertainment to lean towards kids a few years older than the target age of the shows.  That means you young daughter could be watching a show by music sensation L2M about what it’s like to be in High School. This could lead to eventual trouble if you aren’t aware of the message they are getting from the show.

    I always recommend parents having a total knowledge of what their children are spending their time doing. These original content shows may be designed for children but it’s important to remember that only you can decide if they were designed for your children. Nobody knows your kids like you do so only you can make the right entertainment decision for them. You should just allow unsupervised viewing of anything you’ve never seen, even if it is meant for children. Should your kids watch streaming content on YouTube Kids? If they are already using YouTube then absolutely yes. Should they watch the original content and use your tv to view it like other shows? That’s entirely up to you, just be sure your decision is based on knowledge, not a trust that the term “KIDS” always means safe.