Parental Controls for CeCe
Hi CeCe,
Thanks for taking time to show me around your house and describe the tech situation there. I was so impressed with your parenting skills and the solutions you’ve already implemented! As we discussed, open and candid communication between parents and children is ultimately the best approach for ‘parental control’ apps.
You can complement that first and primary defense with Several additional ‘layers’: the parental control software (Screen Time on the iPhones, Qustodio for the three Surface notebooks for school and lastly Verizon’s VPN) and potential hardware restrictions implemented through your router at home. (I think it makes sense for your family to skip the hardware solutions since your children are older and can circumvent home WiFi restrictions so easily.)
Now that you’ve already taken advantage of some of the updated features in Apple’s Screen Time, I think you’re close to being where you want as far as risk tolerance. The last step: install Qustodio on the surface books from school and continue to use the Verizon VPN.
I wanted to also mention two more topics: connectivity and security.
Connectivity: I’m confident Google Wi-Fi routers will alleviate the weak Wi-Fi spots in your house. Google’s mesh setup is more effective and easier to use than the other mesh options on the market. Further, Google just released an updated version so the ones I recommend will be on sale soon. (The new version includes a voice assistant if that’s interesting to you) (Update: i have several of the routers in stock if you want to buy them from me. I don’t mark up hardware and am happy to deliver them for you.)
Security: Lastly, I recommend you never reuse a password (most people have versions of one password) and instead implement a password manager. Hackers don’t need to hack you, they can hack any website you’ve used and then try those passwords at the major banks. To protect against this, since you mostly use Apple products, please use Apple’s password manager which has been built in to iOS. Lastly, you should always use two-factor authentication when it’s available and install software updates promptly.
If you’ve read this far, thanks, and again you’re doing so much already! I will follow up with you periodically and we can discuss advancements in parental control, your kids’ devices, etc. Also I’ve included a few resources in case you’re interested in reading more. One of my favorites is Raising Digital Citizens. Bolles has a great list of resources: Bolles’ list of great tech references for parents, and there’s a general review at PC Magazine of parental control apps: recommendations for parental controls .
Thanks again,
Max
PS - You can read more about built-in parental software for those Surface notebooks here. (Windows offers an okay version built in to the OS)