Firstly, do NOT invade their privacy. They WILL learn how to become better liars and their technical ability will most likely always be ahead of yours. My son is 15 and ALL of his friends that have strict parents that hugely invade their phone privacy have just learnt how to hide it all by bypassing the technology and installing essentially invisible apps. Your best bet is to have open, honest conversations about the dangers and wonders of the internet and the online world. Show them how to use it, how to get the most from it etc. And don't hide negative comments you receive online from your children, show them that being online is a cruel world but that the comments do not affect you and it's amusing if anything, far too many teenagers take their lives after online bullying. Explain the huge dangers around sending nudes and how everyone isn't who they seem, explain that they will see some screwed up stuff that they will never be able to unsee if they delve too deep. Explain the dangers of someone easily being able to steal your data in minutes (lots of easy how to videos online to prove your point) Family link is fine for now, but don't be surprised if they bypass it, you cannot prevent your child from what they see online long term, but you can get them to understand the dangers of it all. Ultimately trust between you and your child is the absolute most important! If they know you're not going to get angry and that you understand and can be trusted, they'll come to you with anything they're concerned about anyway.
So as a techy and someone who has got his head into device management as a job for work uses cases.
1. Don't use Apple if you want control. Their controls are awful and not easy to manage. They assume the user will only use Apple Apps and even Apple TV doesn't have a dedicated child profile.
2. Android devices with an android parent device using a Google account linked to your Google account is the only way (without paying for other tools). Setup Family Link.. and that's about your best solution without paying for a service which is probably crap anyway.
3. If you get a relatively new Google TV. You can add these same accounts to that..and boom you can manage the lot. Screen time everything.
I have this for my young ones tablets and works great for managing allowed apps easy to unblock sites and the Family Link app works well.
I tried with Apple (and I have done Apple Device management at work) and for consumer it's just awful...
They actually have the tech to enable this today.. actually in a weird way better than Google can for enterprise.. but it's only for schools and businesses. Anyhow I digress.
Saying that it does take some setup..with multiple email accounts linking back but it's reasonably effective.
Now your kids are older and there are all the morals around what you allow and what you don't.
Family Link won't allow you to see messages inside these apps. Unless those apps have some sort of child parent system.. Like Minecraft does for example.
It's a massively underdeveloped area of technology and increasingly worrying for parents because the fact is you cannot really control everything.. plus there is really nothing to stop your 13 year old getting a cheap android phone off eBay or a friend popping their SIM card in that phone and using it..
So it's a tough one.
Ping me separately if you like.. as it's a complex area. One I am constantly trying to balance myself with my children giving them freedom to explore but keeping the demons at bay at the same time.
You may also want to just talk to them. Just like Drinking, Drugs, Sex and so on.. as this may prove more effective in the long run.
My line is, I own the phone and the contract and the internet use. They are all registered in my name, if you do anything then I could be responsible for it and I have a right to be able to check it as and when I want.
When I get a parental notification (usually a Google sign in) I'll mention it so he knows I know things.
I take the phone to check the storage space and updates once a month but I see the phone updates as really important. I may need to delete apps to have enough space to download an update before popping apps back on..
Firstly, do NOT invade their privacy. They WILL learn how to become better liars and their technical ability will most likely always be ahead of yours. My son is 15 and ALL of his friends that have strict parents that hugely invade their phone privacy have just learnt how to hide it all by bypassing the technology and installing essentially invisible apps. Your best bet is to have open, honest conversations about the dangers and wonders of the internet and the online world. Show them how to use it, how to get the most from it etc. And don't hide negative comments you receive online from your children, show them that being online is a cruel world but that the comments do not affect you and it's amusing if anything, far too many teenagers take their lives after online bullying. Explain the huge dangers around sending nudes and how everyone isn't who they seem, explain that they will see some screwed up stuff that they will never be able to unsee if they delve too deep. Explain the dangers of someone easily being able to steal your data in minutes (lots of easy how to videos online to prove your point) Family link is fine for now, but don't be surprised if they bypass it, you cannot prevent your child from what they see online long term, but you can get them to understand the dangers of it all. Ultimately trust between you and your child is the absolute most important! If they know you're not going to get angry and that you understand and can be trusted, they'll come to you with anything they're concerned about anyway.
So as a techy and someone who has got his head into device management as a job for work uses cases. 1. Don't use Apple if you want control. Their controls are awful and not easy to manage. They assume the user will only use Apple Apps and even Apple TV doesn't have a dedicated child profile. 2. Android devices with an android parent device using a Google account linked to your Google account is the only way (without paying for other tools). Setup Family Link.. and that's about your best solution without paying for a service which is probably crap anyway. 3. If you get a relatively new Google TV. You can add these same accounts to that..and boom you can manage the lot. Screen time everything. I have this for my young ones tablets and works great for managing allowed apps easy to unblock sites and the Family Link app works well. I tried with Apple (and I have done Apple Device management at work) and for consumer it's just awful... They actually have the tech to enable this today.. actually in a weird way better than Google can for enterprise.. but it's only for schools and businesses. Anyhow I digress. Saying that it does take some setup..with multiple email accounts linking back but it's reasonably effective. Now your kids are older and there are all the morals around what you allow and what you don't. Family Link won't allow you to see messages inside these apps. Unless those apps have some sort of child parent system.. Like Minecraft does for example. It's a massively underdeveloped area of technology and increasingly worrying for parents because the fact is you cannot really control everything.. plus there is really nothing to stop your 13 year old getting a cheap android phone off eBay or a friend popping their SIM card in that phone and using it.. So it's a tough one. Ping me separately if you like.. as it's a complex area. One I am constantly trying to balance myself with my children giving them freedom to explore but keeping the demons at bay at the same time. You may also want to just talk to them. Just like Drinking, Drugs, Sex and so on.. as this may prove more effective in the long run.
My line is, I own the phone and the contract and the internet use. They are all registered in my name, if you do anything then I could be responsible for it and I have a right to be able to check it as and when I want. When I get a parental notification (usually a Google sign in) I'll mention it so he knows I know things. I take the phone to check the storage space and updates once a month but I see the phone updates as really important. I may need to delete apps to have enough space to download an update before popping apps back on..
I think you can use the same app.
Thanks for your help all. I'll try using the same app and a combination of all your advice. I'm so glad my childhood was mobile phone free. 🙏