The online world gives us a huge amount of information and services, but the scale of information also means that there is content that is inappropriate for children. What is or isn’t appropriate is up to parents and carers to decide.

Parental controls allow you to block and filter upsetting or inappropriate content. They work across your WIFI, phone network, individual apps and devices. Parent controls can help you to:

· Plan what time of day your child can go online and for how long. This is particularly useful at        bedtimes.

· Create content filters to block apps that may have inappropriate content

· Manage the content different family members can access.

While parental controls are a useful took there are limitations so they should not be seen a whole       solution. Even if you have put restrictions in place on your child’s device, they won’t work if your child connects to a different WIFI. Parental controls are just part of a way to keep your children safe online. Other tips include:

· Talk to your child. Explain why you are setting parental controls to keep them safe. Also let them know they can talk to you to discuss why certain settings are in place.

· Set good strong passwords. On some parental controls you can set a password which prevents    settings and features from being changed.

· Age needs to be considered. As children get older the restrictions and controls you use will change. Go at a pace that is appropriate for your child not pressure from your child because “everyone else is allowed”.

· Content filters are never 100% effective. It is likely at some point your child will see inappropriate or upsetting content, it is important that they are able to talk to you about this.

Setting up parental controls on:

Home Broadband and WIFI

Home internet providers can offer parental controls for your family. You can:

· Use a filter from your internet provider to control the content that you and your child see. Some    providers allow different settings for each user.

· Set up any device connected to your home broadband. How you do this depends on your provider and you’ll need to access your home router. You can ask your internet provider for help setting this up. Remember this only woks when your child is using the internet through WIFI, if they are using 4G or 5G etc you need to check the settings on their mobile device as well.

Mobiles, tablets and computers

All mobiles, tablets and computers have parental control settings which can differ between devices. These include:

· Allowing or disallowing in-game purchases

· Settings such as location settings and what information your child is sharing.

· Wellbeing settings to help limit screen time.

You can get more advice about setting up parental controls on different devices from your mobile provider and Homepage - UK Safer Internet Centre 

On Apple devices such as iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV etc, there are features available for parents all tied into an account. You can set content and privacy restrictions, prevent purchases,  allow or disallow apps and more. See what parental controls are available on Apple https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201304