“Kids don’t approach their interaction online with the caution that we might. They only see a screen that reacts to their button taps, innocently unaware of the invisible risks at play,” says Alan Goldberg, Education Director at Apple Premium Reseller Digicape.
As parents, the knee-jerk reaction is to deprive children of all devices and other technology. Goldberg, however, cautions against this: “We use technology in all aspects of our daily lives, and that’s not going to change anytime soon. Therefore, parents need to encourage healthy relationships with technology, by discussing the potential pitfalls and agreeing on limits together with their child, making them a part of the process. This, in turn, empowers kids to be more aware of the risks, and better protect themselves online.”
Screen Time is a relatively new feature added to iOS 12, which reveals the amount of time spent on your Apple device, per category of application. Screen Time also contains settings to prevent your child from accessing content you don't want them to view.
“You'll get a report each week detailing how many times your child picked up their iOS device each day, and how many hours were spent in each app. You can also check their daily or weekly usage on your own iPhone.”
A balance between the online and offline world is important, and it’s important to encourage occasional downtime from technology. Another useful feature in iOS is the Downtime setting, where users can predetermine a time period whereby the system will shut down disruptive notifications.
App Limits allows parents to set specific time limits on a particular app category. When they’ve spent the designated time using the app category, iOS sends an alert notifying them of the fact.
“You can also customise the time limit by the day of the week. For example, you can let your kids play more games on the weekend, if you choose. You can also set individual limits by category.”
The ‘Content & Privacy Restrictions’ setting also has an Allowed Apps section that lets users disable certain apps that they wouldn’t want their children using.
In the ‘Content Restrictions’ section, parents can prevent their child from purchasing R-rated movies and TV shows and can also select content ratings for music and podcasts, books and apps.
In the Privacy area, parents can prevent their child from turning off Location Services, Share My Location and other settings, which allows them to keep track of their child’s whereabouts. Goldberg advises parents to have a discussion around the benefits of sharing each other’s location before implementing any measures.
“Parents and caregivers worry about the safety of their children, and rightfully so, but they also need to communicate effectively with their children, to foster open and more positive relationships.”
As the online world becomes all-consuming, children are not necessarily equipped with the tools to know how to deal with certain scenarios, and need help navigating or even avoiding these entirely. Parents should be doing what they can to ensure that what they’re watching, playing and reading is high-quality, age-appropriate and safe.
“As your children mature, and as they understand the potential hazards of the online world, you can adjust these settings with them and become more flexible,” Goldberg concludes.
