Dear Parents/Guardians,It is instructive we learn at a time like this knowledge that will guide us in 2022 going forward drawing inspiration from Chrisland School saga. Android portable devices are naturally not for kids but if you must buy one for them there is a way to control their usage using Google Family Link. So kindly follow this steps as outlined by Friday Aniekan to safeguard their usage.
But before I share those steps from Aniekan let me first tell you why it is important you monitor what your children do with their smart phones online.
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WHY PARENTS SHOULD MONITOR THEIR CHILDREN PHONE AND ONLINE ACTIVITIES
1. To avoid cyber bullying
2. To Avoid sexual abuse and harassment
3. To save them from online predators
4. Know and regulate the kind of friends they keep
5. Safe guard theirs as well as your personal information from going to unwanted sources
6. To regulate the time they spend on frivolous activities which could in turn affect their academics.
7. To guide against identity theft
STEPS TO CONTROL YOUR CHILDREN USE OF ANDROID PHONE FROM ANYWHERE YOU ARE
1. When registering Gmail for them, use their correct age and bind your own Gmail as parent.
2. Proceed to install Google Family Link on your own phone.
3. Add their registered Gmail to your Google Family Link.
4. Do Factory Reset on their Android device if they already have one, then login the device with their own Gmail account that you’ve linked to your Google Family Link.
5. If you’ve just purchased a new device, be sure to use their email linked to your Google Family Link to activate or configure the device.
6. Once steps 4 and 5 above the phone will get a notification to allow them activate the device.
7. This is the beginning of taking control and charge of their devices anywhere.
8. I can tell you that all adult contents of any form will never load on their phones.
9. They will not also be able to install anything without your approval remotely from the Google Family Link.
10. You will also be able to lock their devices from anywhere you may be at anytime.
11. You will also be able to set a Start and Stop time for their usage of the devices and the phone will lock once it gets to that time even if you forget the set time.
13. Note that YouTube will not allow them see or have access to adult contents too.
14. You can also alternatively use YKids (YouTube for Kids). I recommend you remove the normal YouTube and install YKids doe them.
15. You can also monitor how long they’ve stayed on each App or page (browser) to caution or warn them where necessary using the Google Family Link.
Dear Parents/Guardians, with this, you will be able to have control over what your kids do with their devices even if you are not around.
Thank you.
This article is written by Comrade Friday Aniekan
Friday Aniekan is a Computer Software Analysts and you can reach him through his email address andyrado2003@gmail.com.