Plain-English guides to help parents set up meaningful internet safety controls across every device, platform, and service your family uses.
Select your child's age group and get a prioritized, step-by-step checklist of exactly which controls matter most — with links to the full guides for each one.
No technical control replaces a child who feels they can come to you. Conversation starters and guidance for every age group.
Plain-English definitions for every technical term used across these guides — searchable and filterable by category.
Your router is the front door to your home's internet. Controls here apply to every device on your network — phones, tablets, TVs, gaming consoles — all at once.
Built-in controls for iPhones and iPads. App limits, downtime, content restrictions, and communication controls — managed remotely from your own phone.
Google's parental supervision app for Android devices. App approvals, daily limits, location tracking, and activity reports.
Circle, Bark, OpenDNS, and NextDNS add powerful filtering and monitoring — including coverage of cellular data, not just home Wi-Fi.
Many parents assume school Chromebooks are fully managed. Often they're not at home. Here's what to check and how to fill the gaps.
Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast — and the streaming services on them. Often the most overlooked devices in the home.
Enforce safe search results and lock YouTube into a supervised or restricted mode appropriate for your child's age.
Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat family safety tools — with an honest assessment of how effective each one actually is.
iMessage, WhatsApp, Gmail — the first private digital space most children have. Controls are limited here; here's what to do.
Turn off explicit music and podcasts — and why the Family Plan is the only way to make that filter actually stick.
Alexa and Google Home can play explicit music, answer unrestricted web searches, and make purchases by voice. Here's what to configure.
ChatGPT, Character.ai, and similar tools are part of everyday teen life. Technical controls are limited — but understanding them matters enormously.
Both platforms have robust family controls for purchases, chat, content ratings, and screen time — if you know where to find them.
Nintendo's dedicated parental controls app is excellent. Play time limits, content restrictions, and online controls — managed from your phone.
The most effective approach layers controls at the router, the device, and the app — alongside honest conversations with your kids about why these things matter. That combination is hard to beat.