Parent Corner: Parental Controls for Kids?

[riser4]

Except the Fi data only sim requires the Fi user who ordered it to log in to the device with their id. You can't set it up with a burner Gmail ID.
This gives access to your Gmail and anything else. I had tried to set up a BYOD for work using a data sim and didn't want any of my personal info on the "work" phone so this was no bueno.

[JayPowHound]

Got our 6th grader a phone last summer for the start of middle school. They really need them in this town, as when school gets out there are lots of clubs and whatnot and they are basically set free.

I'm on Sprint, brought them in an old iPhone to set up (maybe a 5?) and was told that adding a line meant qe got a new model AND a watch for free.

So now she has a nicer phone than either of us...

She's reasonably responsible, so we don't have too many concerns but definitely have the monitoring in place and take it away before bedtime.

She FaceTimes friends, plays with tiktok (private acct and heavily supervised.. now I have tiktok) and Googles things 11 year old girls care about.

No concerns here, but all kids are different and I don't know yours.

Good luck, welcome to pre-teens!

[Mustonen]

My ship has sailed a little bit on this. Circle will solve the problem, but only if both parents/households are on board. If they aren’t, it’s a lost cause…. The ten year still has limits, but the other two do what they want, and, well…it is what it is.

If I were in your position I’d get them something in the Apple ecosystem and manage it with the built in controls. They’re probably the most powerful and easiest to roll with IF you participate in that ecosystem. If you don’t, Circle works well.

[slcdawg]

Not sure what thread to post in, the phone thread may not capture all the parents, so...

Looking to possibly get my 5th grader a phone. But we're not ready to have her jump into the deep end, we're just tired of her having to grab our phones to talk to friends. Any advice on what to do?

Wants in a phone:
Phone calls
Texts
Games?
Reasonably durable

Needs:
Parental controls: Ability to control surfing, ability to control calls/texts (ie who she can contact), etc
Low/reasonable cost

Mom has Verizon, I have Google Fi, if that matters. Verizon offers some deal where we'd pay $50 for a kid's plan and mom would get a new iphone, kid would get her old iphone. Unlimited data (and of course "free" phone). Is that the best deal?

My daughter is on Mint Mobile. Its stupid cheap, like $15/mo and you can bring your existing phone. It doesn't have as good of coverage as Verizon but my daughter has been pretty happy with it in CO. LMK if you want a referral code - think it benefits both of us.

For parental control, I've tried a couple of apps (Qstodio and Norton) but they kind of suck. I'm going to look at Family Link that Dantheman suggested. Also, Verizon has parental controls if you go that route. I'd be interested to hear how good they are.

Question for you: How is Google Fi coverage compared to Verizon in CO, especially in remote areas?

[seano732]

Timely thread. My twin 16 y/o daughters and I have had all the talks about SM, the Internet is forever, etc…..But……two weeks ago I got a call from the vice principal first thing in the am, which is never a good sign. Thing Two got in a flame war with another student on SnapChat, and ended up threatening to “mutilate your ass, and your sisters too…..” VP asked if I am available to come to the school, as the cops were on the way….Fuck. Fly over there, talk to the VP, Thing Two gets a five day suspension. Talk to the cops. Parents don’t want to press charges, which is the ONLY reason she wasn’t taken out of school in handcuffs….Apparently threatening/ harassing via electronic device is a felony, and they take it pretty seriously here in NM…..We took everything away, phone, car, laptop. And now I honestly don’t know what the fuck we are going to do, cause I’m losing sleep about if/when we give her her phone back she’ll do it again, and then she’s toast. What says the collective?

[I've seen black diamonds!]

What says the collective?

Good luck. That sucks. I don't think anyone can offer useful advice without knowing your kid, but I'm sure they will.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

[riser4]

Good luck. That sucks. I don't think anyone can offer useful advice without knowing your kid, but I'm sure they will.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

Ya, I got nothing other than a heartfelt good luck.

[seano732]

Good luck. That sucks. I don't think anyone can offer useful advice without knowing your kid, but I'm sure they will.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

Thanks and it sure does…..Anyone have any experience with Gabb phones?

[Sirshredalot]

Timely thread. My twin 16 y/o daughters and I have had all the talks about SM, the Internet is forever, etc…..But……two weeks ago I got a call from the vice principal first thing in the am, which is never a good sign. Thing Two got in a flame war with another student on SnapChat, and ended up threatening to “mutilate your ass, and your sisters too…..” VP asked if I am available to come to the school, as the cops were on the way….Fuck. Fly over there, talk to the VP, Thing Two gets a five day suspension. Talk to the cops. Parents don’t want to press charges, which is the ONLY reason she wasn’t taken out of school in handcuffs….Apparently threatening/ harassing via electronic device is a felony, and they take it pretty seriously here in NM…..We took everything away, phone, car, laptop. And now I honestly don’t know what the fuck we are going to do, cause I’m losing sleep about if/when we give her her phone back she’ll do it again, and then she’s toast. What says the collective?

I don't think I've got anything useful to add except that you are taking the problem seriously and backing up the school admins. That's seems like a strong start.

Good luck as you get it sorted out.

Sent from my Pixel 5a using Tapatalk

[riser4]

https://www.thelightphone.com/

[seano732]

https://www.thelightphone.com/

Thanks Riser!

[riser4]

Thanks Riser!

I've never used it. So I really don't know anything about it other than I wish it would work on Google Fi. Because then I'd get it for myself. Of course Google would never allow it because it goes directly against their business model, for starters.

[Danno]

My daughter is on Mint Mobile. Its stupid cheap, like $15/mo and you can bring your existing phone. It doesn't have as good of coverage as Verizon but my daughter has been pretty happy with it in CO. LMK if you want a referral code - think it benefits both of us.

For parental control, I've tried a couple of apps (Qstodio and Norton) but they kind of suck. I'm going to look at Family Link that Dantheman suggested. Also, Verizon has parental controls if you go that route. I'd be interested to hear how good they are.

Question for you: How is Google Fi coverage compared to Verizon in CO, especially in remote areas?

Thanks. We're leaning towards trying the Verizon stuff, we'll see how it goes. I'll look at mint mobile too, will let you know if I need a referral code.

As for Fi coverage, it's not as good as Verizon but generally find it good enough. And there's always a random place where it's better than Verizon. That said, I'm not in too many remote places these days.

[SumJongGuy]

https://www.thelightphone.com/

This is pretty close to what we did for kid phones round one. I found dumb phones that had no camera at all only capable of voice and text with pretty minimal web browsing support. Really bare bones.

I was a moderator of a skateboard forum too so I was fully aware of many of the hacks teens used to get around phone and computer restrictions. Several kids were posting from their Nintendo DS or other gaming peripherals to avoid parental controls. Head's up to block those too if you're not wanting them to chat with strangers online.

Once they were 13 we got them iPhones and just tried to make sure they didn't block us on social media.. It's the gaming stuff that can get out of control quickly. Also, the schools around here have social media wardens of some sort. We did get called by the vice principal about some online feud our daughter was wrapped up in last year. They don't realize how this shit can follow you around forever and define you as a horrible person after one or two stupid posts/comments/photos

[SumJongGuy]

Timely thread. My twin 16 y/o daughters and I have had all the talks about SM, the Internet is forever, etc…..But……two weeks ago I got a call from the vice principal first thing in the am, which is never a good sign. Thing Two got in a flame war with another student on SnapChat, and ended up threatening to “mutilate your ass, and your sisters too…..” VP asked if I am available to come to the school, as the cops were on the way….Fuck. Fly over there, talk to the VP, Thing Two gets a five day suspension. Talk to the cops. Parents don’t want to press charges, which is the ONLY reason she wasn’t taken out of school in handcuffs….Apparently threatening/ harassing via electronic device is a felony, and they take it pretty seriously here in NM…..We took everything away, phone, car, laptop. And now I honestly don’t know what the fuck we are going to do, cause I’m losing sleep about if/when we give her her phone back she’ll do it again, and then she’s toast. What says the collective?

To add on to my post above.. I kept ONE of the dumb phones activated for two years after the kids got their real iPhones. When they did something irresponsible the iPhone was handed over to me and they got the DUMB PHONE to take to school with them while iPhone privileges were suspended. Now that they're adults, I can still disable phones since it's my account and not theirs.. But no loaner dumb phone anymore..