Difference between revisions of "Parental Controls"

Revision as of 12:07, 19 March 2021

Label that was used to warn parents about explicit content in music. ^[1]

Parental control software allows parents to control what websites their children can see, determine at what times their children have access to the internet, and track their children's internet history. Before the widespread use of the internet, children did not have the access to the information that they do now. For example, explicit music used to come in CD’s with large warning labels on the packaging, which made it easy for parents to see what kinds of music their children listen to. Warning labels also helped parents regulate what songs their children were allowed to listen to, but now, any child with internet access can listen to any song online without limitations.

Now that many children have access to the internet, the way in which parents monitor what content their children view has changed. Parental control software has become widely adopted by parents across the globe, and several companies have entered the business of creating it. The introduction of parental control software has raised concerns in academia about the possibility of parents abusing the omnipresence that it provides them.

About 32% of U.S. households have children, but that doesn’t mean all of them utilize parental controls. ^[2] Parental controls are most likely used between the ages of 7 and 16, but parents with “very young children or older teens often have very little need for parental control technologies.” ^[2] Other factors that influence whether or not a family chooses to use parental controls include aversions to these technologies, beliefs that these technologies are ineffective, and “alternative methods of controlling media content and access in the home,” such as “household media rules.” ^[2] Sometimes, parents might elect not to deal with parental controls simply because they’re too lazy. ^[2] However, parents who do choose to monitor their children’s technology use can do so in a variety of ways.

Overview

Parental control software typically allows parents to customize internet permissions on their child's devices or accounts on shared devices . ^[3] The account administrator, typically a parent, can change internet permissions for the entire household, while accounts under the administrator do not have that capability. This allows parents to establish rules for their children without having to physically enforce them.

Parental control software has become more prevalent recently. For example, basic parental control software now comes with standard operating systems, such as Windows. ^[4]

There are three ways in which parental control software functions:

Apple's built in parental controls. ^[5]

• Complete disablement of the internet involves having the ability to cut wifi entirely during chosen time intervals. This can range from disabling the wifi during a scheduled time interval, such as at bedtime, to turning off the internet indefinitely such as in instances of punishment.

• Content blocking focuses on filtering through the content that children can see. For example, different accounts might have different age appropriate preferences set. For larger households with several devices, this allows for different children to view content appropriate for their age as determined by the account administrator.

• Monitoring means that parents can have access to the complete browsing history of their children at any time. This allows parents to monitor how their children navigate the internet without hard boundaries.

Parental Control Apps

An example of what information parents could view about their children's device usage with Qustodio. ^[6]

Aside from standard operating systems’ built-in parental controls, parents can also download apps to set up these restrictions/monitoring systems. Net Nanny is an app that can block inappropriate content online and “can also record instant messaging programs, monitor Internet activity, and send daily email reports to parents.” ^[7] An app called Qustodio provides parents with activity summaries for each of their children. ^[6] These summaries include total screen time, a breakdown of the screen time that shows how much time was spent on different apps, a list of words that the child searched on the internet, and a tab alerting parents to possibly questionable activity. ^[6] These are two of the many parental control apps available for parents to download.

About “16% of parents report using parental control apps to monitor and restrict their teens’ mobile online activities,” and some parents are more likely than others to download these apps. ^[8] Two factors that correspond to higher rates of parental control app usage are if the parents are “low autonomy granting” and if the child is being “victimized online” or has had “peer problems.” ^[8]

Ethical Issues

In academia, there is a debate about whether or not parental control software leads to healthy outcomes. Some say that greater parental involvement in children allows for better internet safety practices. Others counter that parental control software enables parental behaviors that negatively affect family dynamics and internet safety practices. Despite this debate, there is a consensus that the obstacles that parents face when trying to protect their children from harmful content are largely shaped by the ease of accessibility to information that is accessible to children through the internet.

Benefits of Parental Control Software

Protection from Harmful Content

The vastness of the internet places a large burden on parents trying to protect their children from harmful content on the internet. Because children might not have the skills to successfully navigate this vast sea of the internet, parental controls can be a helpful tool to help guide children to the right path. The internet is an integral part of school for children at the same time that the internet makes available potentially traumatic content that children would not otherwise see. Parental control software offers parents the ability to control what content their children have access to even when they are not present. There is some evidence that parents who are involved in some way in their children’s internet use are more likely to encourage safe internet practices. ^[9]

Health Benefits

Among the benefits of parental controls is the ability to help one's child to live a healthier lifestyle. A study from 2016 found that about 59% of parents believed their children to be addicted to their cellular and/or electronic devices. ^[10] As more children receive smartphones at younger ages, it is important that parents have the ability to limit their usage of that device to lower the chance that child will become addicted to their phone in the future. Addiction to cellular devices along with other electronic devices has several bad symptoms. These symptoms range from psychological (anxiety and depression) to even physical (eye strain and neck strain). ^[11] Less time spent on phones will lead to increased physical activity and more legitimate social interaction, leading to a more well-rounded lifestyle.

Shortfalls of Parental Control Software

Breaking Trust

While some parents can potentially harm their children by being more negligent when it comes to teaching safe internet practices to their children, academia has researched that the reverse is also true. By providing parents with greater control over their children’s internet access, parental control software can enable parents who already may struggle with being over controlling in their relationships with their children. This can lead to breaks in trust within families as well as leave the children without experience practicing safe internet practices on their own. In a study from the University of Central Florida, it was shown that two-thirds of teens' relationships with their parents soured after the installation of a parental control application. ^[12] It is thought that perhaps parents may replace meaningful conversations with their children about safe internet practices with parental control software.

Children Learning Less

As children enter adulthood it is likely that they may have trouble adjusting to having autonomy in their internet practices due to heavy supervision in the home. ^[13] One of the most important things children learn as kids is the ability to learn from their mistakes and solve their problems on their own. A study suggested that some children whose parents used parental controls were less likely to want to approach their parents about problems they had run into, both on- and offline, leading to these children with less ability to solve their problems through collaboration with others. ^[14] Additionally, there have been extensive studies done on the effects that overbearing parents can have on children. Chilldren with controlling parents demonstrate lower self-esteem, more acting out, and lower academic performance. ^[15] As parental controls can lead to controlling parenting, they need to be treated with great care.

Conclusion

Parents face difficult decisions as they try to introduce children to the internet in a safe way. The ideal balance between the use of parental control software to protect children from harmful content and the conversations needed to teach children how to navigate the internet independently in a safe way is far from clear. The creators of parental control software also have an obligation to implement a program that creates a nice balance between control and a child's freedom. What is certain is that parents will need to become increasingly tech savvy as the internet of things poses new challenges for families.

References

1. ↑ ‌Schilling, D. R. (2017, February 7). Parental Control for the Internet, TV & Voice Controlled Assistants. Industry Tap. http://www.industrytap.com/parental-control-internet-tv-voice-controlled-assistants/40715 ‌
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Thierer, Adam. (2019). Parental Controls & Online Child Protection. The Progress & Freedom Foundation, 45-51. https://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=396031102089030101016075082091103088058033095009026094104027126098086093111106075097029031099028051096054088127017025008122107111073000085023006114113101117080113006077037031064068080020002099009101067004068104007107105022107078007111120115083101094&EXT=pdf&INDEX=TRUE
3. ↑ ‌The Business Insider. (2020, September 18). The best internet parental control systems. Newstex LLC. https://go-gale-com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/ps/i.do?p=STND&u=umuser&id=GALE%7CA635821966&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon
4. ↑ ‌Microsoft. (n.d.). Parental consent and Microsoft child accounts. Microsoft. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/parental-consent-and-microsoft-child-accounts-c6951746-8ee5-8461-0809-fbd755cd902e
5. ↑ ‌amaysim. (2020, November 3). How to set up parental controls on your iPhone, iPad or Android device. amaysim. https://www.amaysim.com.au/blog/world-of-mobile/set-up-parental-controls-apple-android
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} ‌Teodosieva, Radina. (2015, October 16). Spy me, please! University of Amsternam. http://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/blog/2015/10/16/spy-me-please-the-self-spying-app-that-you-need/
7. ↑ ‌Kanable, Rebecca. (2004, November). Policing Online: From Internet Safety to Employee Management and Parolee Monitoring, Technology Can Help. U.S. Department of Justice. https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/policing-online-internet-safety-employee-management-and-parolee
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} ‌Ghosh, Arup K, et al. (2018, April 26). A Matter of Control or Safety? Examining Parental Use of Technical Monitoring Apps on Teens’ Mobile Devices. Association for Computing Machinery Digital Library. Association for Computing Machinery. https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3173574.3173768
9. ↑ Gallego, Francisco, A. (2020, August). Parental monitoring and children's internet use: The role of information, control, and cues. ScienceDirect. https://www-sciencedirect-com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/science/article/pii/S0047272720300724?via%3Dihub
10. ↑ Teenage Cellphone Addiction https://www.psycom.net/cell-phone-internet-addiction
11. ↑ Signs and Symptoms of Cell Phone Addiction https://www.psychguides.com/behavioral-disorders/cell-phone-addiction/signs-and-symptoms/
12. ↑ Managing Screen Time and Privacy | Could Parental Control Apps Do More Harm than Good? https://techden.com/blog/screen-time-privacy-parental-control-apps/
13. ↑ Cetinkaya, L. (2019). The Relationship between Perceived Parental Control and Internet Addiction: A Cross-sectional study among Adolescents. Contemporary Educational Technology, 10(1), 55–74. https://doi.org/10.30935/cet.512531
14. ↑ Managing Screen Time and Privacy | Could Parental Control Apps Do More Harm than Good? https://techden.com/blog/screen-time-privacy-parental-control-apps/
15. ↑ Controlling Parents – The Signs And Why They Are Harmful https://www.parentingforbrain.com/controlling-parents/