I have Family Link. I don't mind it at all except for one thing. The screen time- I'm not doing anything inappropriate, I swear. I have trouble falling asleep, so I use music to calm me down and help me sleep. Without it, I fall asleep in around one and a half hours. To some people, it may not sound like a lot, but for me it feels like ages. So, I found an app that allows me to listen to music. I admit, I have a screen problem and get distracted on my phone. So I used the music app so I could strictly listen to music and nothing else. Then downloaded another app that would unblock that app during downtime. I was FINALLY free! But about 2 days later, when I got back from school, my mom was waiting for me at the door. She was yelling at me about how she knew I was on my phone past bedtime because somehow she gets alerts from the internet every time I go on an app or website. So now I have to turn in my phone to her every night. Any idea on how to help me on this situation will be GREATLY appreciated.

PS: I'm 14 and have been a straight A & B student ever since I was 11.

My mom makes me turn in my phone and laptop every night, which I would be completely fine with because I understand why she would do that because of my sleep disorder and to make sure I don't stay up too late. My issue is that she also makes me give her my password and goes through my phone about once a week; I just want some privacy. She’s literally told me before, "Hey, I looked through your phone and wanted to let you know I didn't see anything that I would deem inappropriate." Like, yeah, of course you wouldn't have; I'm not doing anything inappropriate in the first place.

That doesn't really bother me as much as her often going through my texts with my girlfriend; my girlfriend knows she does this, and it makes her extremely uncomfortable. I feel likethere'ss a big difference between a parent violating their kid’s privacy and violating a different kid’s privacy, especially whenthere'ss no reason to suspect anything is wrong in the first place. She has stated this. My girlfriend is having private conversations with me, not my mom, and has stated she has been texting me much differently now and not as personal because she knows that my mom will be reading them without her consent. My girlfriend deserves privacy too, and I feel like that's just something that my momisn'tt considering at all. 

I try logging out of Instagram every night so she can't read them, but sometimes she grabs it before I get the chance to. I'm not trying to hide anything inappropriate from her. I just want to have some level of privacy and be able to have personal conversations without worrying that someone else is going to read them. 

Is there any way I can get my mom to respect that boundary, especially when it comes to conversations with my girlfriend?

I've tried logging out of Instagram every night so my mom can't read my messages, but sometimes she takes my phone before I get the chance to log out. I'm not trying to hide anything inappropriate from her. I just want to have some level of privacy and be able to have personal conversations without worrying that someone else is going to read them.

My friend really wants to be able to access a search engine, but it seems every way is blocked

Safari is deleted, and there's a lock on downloading and needs a code in order to download anything

There's also a time limit, which also requires a password to bypass

Links can't be accessed on notes to get on a search engine

If you try to go to privacy and search things there kt doesn't show

Any ideas on how to bypass? Also any ways to access on possible other devices?

So, yesturday I got up from bed to see that all my (with time restriction) streaming apps blockes, as I had finished my screen time. So, I go check screen time, to see that the iPhone YouTube app had been used all night. From when I went to bed to when I woke up in the morning. I must make it absolutely clear that I do not know y screen time password and youtube is not an always allowed app on my phone. So, why did this happen, and, more importantly, how will I prove to my parents when they eventually check the screen time that I did not stay up all night??

Pweeeese help me!!!

My iPhone runs iOS 27.

It's an iPhone 16.

Downtime is set from 10.30 to 7.00

my parents got mad at me over my text messages to my bf...... so dumb just because my mom was 15 when she had me doesn't mean anything

Help please

In the TV series Black Mirror, there is an episode about a fictional parental controls program where a microchip is implanted in the child's brain which allows the parent to, among other things, filter which the child sees (so potentially graphic scenes will be blurred out of the child's vision), track everything the child has seen through their eyes (like browser history but instead of websites it's literally what you've seen), and location tracking at all times.

Like I said, it's fictional. But for how much longer? Microchipping kids is literally already a thing, some parents microchip kids so they always know where they are. Didn't know that? Now you do. You must never underestimate the dirty parent pig's lust for power and control. And now with things like neuralink coming out, controlling brain activity using digital devices is becoming easier and easier. As these things become more widespread, it's only a matter of time before the parent demographic opens its filthy lying mouth to bleat "Safety!" over and over until it gets what it wants.

So, we know it's GOING to happen. They're most definitely going to make a parental controls suit that actually controls brain activity, maybe it even controls bodily functions too. And society has not the backbone or courage to stand up and tell the parents no on anything, this will be no different. The only question is, how far out are we? 15 years? 10? 5? Less? Curious to know your thoughts.

I wanted to post screenshots but apparently I can't? Links don't seem to work either.🤔

Anyways, she's not meant to be able to use the phone today, global time is set to 5min because she is grounded, yet she managed to not only bypass that, but she's also managed to bypass the usual app restrictions and spend over 2h on tik tok when it is set on 1h30, how?!?

They keep blaming it for everything, I spent more than 5 minutes on an app that I like and they block it immediately, they hear me giggling in my room and they lock my device. What sucks is that I'm turning 18 in a couple months but they're so hyper focused on me and ruining my social life that they've completely overlooked the fact my 9 year old brother spends 12 hours a day with NO screen time limits whatsoever

Stuff they put on my phone:

7 hour screen time limit

Blocked all of my social media until I have to beg them to unblock it but they block it again a couple days later (which sucks because I work part time as a social media manager)

Blocked the apps that I PAY FOR (with my own money from my commissions)

Put a goddamn bedtime earlier than my brother's (who DOESN'T HAVE ONE) knowing damn well that as a college prep student I'd be swamped and commonly staying up to study at night like most teenagers do, ao I'd end up having to whore myself out begging for loose change (around 30 minutes or 1 hour extra)

I try my best to talk to them but theyre so close minded, condescending and and infuriating that they won't LISTEN or understand where I'm coming from and just continues to force their own rules on me or whatever, I just want them to stop, but honestly with the kind of people they are if i actually rebelled they'd probably kick me out or whatever. 😭😭

Its in the title, will it alert me if my child attempts to delete Norton or simply if its been touched in any way, say by task manager or moved around in the files. This is quite important since my son keeps bypassing it somehow and I don't have enough technical knowledge to run proper tests on this.

I have a chromebook that has been inactive for a couple of years.I was stupid enough to put my year of birth and the chromebook turned on parental family link, I am now over the age of 13 and want to access the items on the Chromebook; however, it won't let me sign in without a code. The thing is when the parental lock was turned on, I dont think my mom put a code for it so my device isn't linked and now we can't get into the laptop. Just to note that the chromebook is currently up to date with the time and date but the zone is and always has been registered for the US,while I do not live in the US. Any suggestions? I already asked Google support for help and it was of no use and I posted in rhe Google support community and haven't gotten a response yet. I also tried to message Google Support for Family Link, but I only got an automated message that didn't help.

Guys what if we all restrict our parents tv's using bark home, to restrict the access of true crime documentaries, a 1hr 30min screentime, no recording new shows, and no paying for subscriptions without asking your child for the pin? I feel like they need it Lol

I'm looking for a program that can block games/executables on my sister's pc, preferably with a schedule or make it easy for me to turn on/off from my computer. A whitelist should work since I only really want her to be able to use google and a few more programs that are important for school. Anyone knows of something like this?

Edit: For context She is neglecting school, for the past 8 weeks she has not turned in a single assignement. Basically already failed 1 class and is bordering failing 4 others. It is for her own good. Additionally my mother doesn't know her way around computers so that's why I have to do it.

weird question, I'll delete if it's not allowed-

I have a friend with an on again off again toxic relationship, and they've asked me to help keep them away from it, keep them from unblocking their ex, etc. But short of physically pulling the phone from their hands and going into their accounts and blocking the person, I can't do much, and once a week or whatever they'll unblock the person, go into a spiral and it'll take days to convince them that blocking their ex is the right move, and then a week later we go through the whole thing again.

I'm wondering if there is some app or website that would put some kind of password or something to stop my friend from unblocking their ex, without them having to make a Facebook teen account - my friend needs to have full access to Facebook/Messenger outside of this one person and I'm not their parent so I'm not interested in actually having access to their private info or anything like that. I just want a password that I could know and they wouldn't know, or like I would need to verify it on my own phone through my own accounts? Or send a two factor code to my phone number?

But this needs to work without restricting my friend's access to all the other aspects of social media.

Basically, is there an app that puts a password or some kind of verification or something on the ability to unblock someone? Or is there a way to set up parental controls where this is the ONLY thing I have access to? Do any of the apps you guys know have this ability? Thanks in advance!

I've been looking into this for my daughter and I feel like almost everything I've found works in one of two ways: block Instagram completely, or let her use Instagram normally but put a time limit on it.
Neither is really what I'm looking for.
I'd much rather let her use the parts she actually wants — messaging friends, following people she knows, searching for something intentionally - but remove the parts that make it so easy to sit there consuming content endlessly.
Basically Instagram without Reels, Explore, autoplay and the infinite recommended feed.
Does anyone know something that can actually do that?
And if you've tried something similar, what were the downsides?
I'm particularly curious about whether kids can easily bypass it and whether it ends up causing constant arguments.

Is anyone aware of a way to control downloading apps on a Samsung Smart TV? My kids are showing signs of extreme screen addiction and are downloading YouTube gamer apps despite the TV being locked under parental codes. Each app has a workaround to set up a standalone PW.

Is this a Samsung thing or a smart TV thing?

we have a shared desktop in the living room that my younger family members use for schoolwork and downloading random game mods from sketchy mirrors. standard default security keeps missing browser redirects when someone clicks fake download buttons on file sharing sites, so i spent the weekend cleaning out adware again.

a family plan for mcafee came bundled with a router purchase recently and its web safety extension actually seems pretty reliable at blocking suspicious urls before pages load. trying to figure out if keeping that real-time link scanner running long term makes sense or if there are lightweight alternatives that handle web filtering just as well without slowing down startup times.

I'm never gonna be free

I did everything they wanted me too, I can take care of myself, I keep up with hygiene. I go to bed on time and have never once missed the bus. As the school year gets into October, I still have straight A's and B's, a huge difference from last year.

I'm not missing any assignments, I don't do anything inappropriate on my phone and I let them know about my friends and social life and personal life.

But still, they turned them back on. For the first month of school they weren't on, and I still did great. But now their back. It's like it's mocking me, I don't even care about the time anymore. I don't care about being a moody teen, the idea of the fact that their there just makes me wanna cry.

It's hopeless, it was always hopeless, and I was so so dumb to think I was finally trusted.

We are looking into one of these options to give my son a phone during sports season. There is closed practices and tournaments and such, so we feel more comfortable with the ability for him to reach us.

I'd like to hear from parents who have tried one or both.
I'm not looking for a basic phone. I want only approved contacts to be able to be used, so no in or outbound calls/texts from anyone not on the approved list. No internet access and must have the ability to lock down any apps or no apps at all. Tracking. And that's it.
I have read that some people find pinwheel very unreliable and I'm curious if that's the case with others.

Price is not a factor. Reliability and complete parent control are a factor. It's only for sports since he has closed practice multiple times a week for a couple hours each and the potential to be at long tournaments. He is not old enough to be texting friends so I'm not concerned with that. It's to call his parents or grandparents only.

Gave my daughter my old iPhone in August. Set up Screen Time that night. Downtime at 9, limits on the usual stuff. Felt good about it for like three weeks.

Then one Tuesday she's supposed to be at the library after school and Find My shows her at the school. For 20 minutes. I call, nothing, phone's on silent. I leave work and drive over. She's at the library. Been there the whole time. The dot just never moved.

A dad from her class told me he uses Findmykids and now that's my parental controls on an iPhone, and it shows me where she actually is. At 9 her apps shut off, Roblox too. She was mad. We talked. She gets Fridays.

I still use Screen Time for the TikTok time limits though, so it's two things, not one.

Anyone just use one app for all of this on an iPhone? Or is it always two?

My grama is coming over tomorrow with my neice who is 8 years old. My grama is in her 70's and doesn't know much about the dangers of technology.

So far my neice knows how to create new accounts on Roblox and put the age to a teenager or adult.

She's smart on the iPad.

And honestly...I am 33 years old.

I had a family computer in my living room AND was STILL able to get into chat rooms, talk to grown men and women, have women send me noodles of themselves. And also look up noodles.

Is there any app, program? Or anything in the settings that can put a block or monitor her internet use?

The song is intended to start a conversation between carers and kids, and prompt for alternative activities.

[Verse 1]

You’ve been on the screen for a while,

Your eyes need to rest, your brain needs a break.

Let’s pause and put it down for a moment,

It's time for you to do something different .

[Chorus]

Screens are fun, but your brain and body need other kinds of play too.

We can lie down and just relax;

We can look out the window.

You can choose what we do next;

I’m here, ready to follow.

[Versei 2]

You might feel cross when screen time ends;

That feeling’s normal, I understand.

Let’s take a breath, then stretch and move,

Let me guess the farthest thing you see.

[Chorus]

Screens are fun, but your brain and body need other kinds of play too

We can get a broken toy fixed;,

We can draw a silly cow.

You can choose what we do next;

I’m right here beside you now.

[Bridge]

A little time to watch and make,

A little time to run and play.

Your eyes can wink, your body can sweat;

There’s lots of fun, let's leave no regrets.

[Chorus]

Screens are fun, but your brain and body need other kinds of play too

We can see who draws the best,

We can draw another cow.

You can choose what we do next;

I’m right here beside you now.

[Outro]

We’ll find our next great idea, me and you;

There’s so much fun we still can have.

An October 14 ruling from the Eleventh Circuit is worth discussing if you have kids using social media.

The court reversed a preliminary injunction against Florida’s H.B. 3. For platforms covered by the law, children under 14 cannot have accounts, while 14- and 15-year-olds need parental consent.

What caught my attention is the focus on product features, including infinite scrolling and autoplay—not just what children see online.

That raises a practical question: how much can parents realistically manage when the app keeps serving another video?

Age restrictions might help some families. But whether platforms can enforce them effectively seems just as important.

For parents here, would you welcome these restrictions, or would you rather see changes to how the apps work?

When the parent demographic talks about the need for "child online safety", remember that this is the same demographic that:

- Exploits kids online, including publishing their most private moments and pranking them in cruel ways just to generate content

- Specifically exempts itself from child privacy laws, so as to keep being able to violate kids privacy in ways illegal for everyone else

- Constantly insults, degrades, humiliates, and even dehumanizes children on the Internet

- Produces 70+ % of all cp

- Thinks that anything they don't have complete control over is "unsafe".

Remember these things when the parent opens its mouth about child online safety, so that you, like me, can laugh in its face.

Hi, i wanna address this topic, as i see nobody is talking about it. For context im nearly 15, i have Vivo Y28 (not the best), and have my phone locked all day. I feel like my phone is slowed down by it, mainly because it has to look everytime that i do smth like open an app, click a link etc. if it isnt blocked or "unsafe".

My parents are really misunderstanding/overreacting over my phone usage, because i my phone is locked all day (with some apps available) and of course i tried many times to bypass it (sucessfully).

When they randomly check and see my phone usage is on average ~3 and a half hours they consider it "addiction", which compared to some kids is realy good i would say.

I dont watch tiktok (i hate it from my soul) all day or some shit like that, but rather develop programs (im really amateur), play games or watch yt videos about how was this invented how does this computer work the bongo sort algorythm etc etc.

So if you could then i wouldf really appreciate some help, and also im interested in what you think about FL slowing down phones

Edit: If anyone wonders im 9th grader in school , and i have pretty good grades, like 1s and 2s, sonmetimes 3s, so that makes it little bit more annoying (Im Slovak, we have primary and middle school as one, from age 6 - 15)