Nowadays, it's not uncommon to see children and toddlers just staring at their devices at a restaurant, cafe or any other eatery. Many would silently judge the parents for allowing this to happen, as it is regarded as a negative notion. At the same time, it's also not easy being a parent and sometimes, using this method is the easy way out to keep their sanity.
According to Google Trends, search interest in 'screen time' and 'screen time for kids' reached an all-time high in Malaysia in December 2024. Even the search term 'recommended screen time by age' saw a 50% rise in Google Search. If you're one of them, you have come to the right place for advice, so read on for what you can do to manage your children's screen time.
#1 Using Google Family Link
As the digital age continues to evolve, online safety has never been more top-of-mind for parents. The APAC Kids and Families Online Safety Survey revealed that misinformation (56.4%), deceptive ads and spam (52.3%), and violent content (45.9%) were reported by parents online. Most of the mature content is easily accessible to kids, so what can you do?
Thankfully, there is this thing called Google Family Link that can assist parents in managing their children's online habits. For the uninitiated, Family Link is an easy-to-use parental control app for parents to supervise children while navigating online without having to change any settings. With the app, parents can understand how their children are spending time on their devices, manage their accounts, find the screen time that works best and most importantly, stay connected with them.
Not too long ago, Google also added new tools for parents to do more. This includes setting Downtime and School time to help reduce distractions. Family Link also got an improved user interface for parents to navigate better and manage healthy digital habits for their children.
#2 Turn on SafeSearch
If your children use the web browser more, you may want to pay more attention to this. After all, it's very easy to search for mature content on Google Search. So to make online searches safer and prevent accidental exposure to inappropriate content, parents can use SafeSearch on Google. This helps to automatically blur our explicit content across all searches to all signed-in users under 18 years old.
Through the Family Link app, parents can also choose to limit or block access to certain content; for example, you can turn on YouTube Restricted mode in the Content restrictions > YouTube menu. Likewise, you can fine-tune SafeSearch to either filter or blur explicit images, text or links from the Content restrictions > Google search menu.
You can do quite a lot from the Family Link app now, including setting Content restrictions
#3 Set a time to 'Take a Break'
Lastly, there are other features like Bedtime reminders and Take a Break. These notification tools are turned on by default for users under 18 years old. So from short to long-form videos, the default setting for Take a Break reminders is every 60 minutes. Autoplay is also disabled for teenagers to give them more control over their viewing experience.
Similarly, Google also rolled out School Time for Android phones and tablets. It is a tool to minimise distractions for children by scheduling limited phone functions and silence notifications during school hours. On top of that, parents can even choose which apps to silence or simply restrict. Overall, parents can choose what apps are allowed during School Time or in other modes.
Bonus Warning - 'Curated' isn't always safe
Before we end this, we thought it would be good to give you all a warning about using any service that claims to be curated just for kids, especially if it mainly uses algorithms to do this. Despite the best intentions, toxic content can still creep in somehow, and algorithms can't always catch these. Even if you have set "safe channels", the algorithms are still in charge of suggesting new content, allowing rather inappropriate content to seep in.
Conclusion - Do it together
While all these online safety tools for children are indeed useful, limiting screen time on your children's devices is just one part of the equation. According to CHOC.org, it is also highly recommended that parents be with their children while having screen time together, as studies have shown children's improvement in learning skills when adults are present to create an enriched and interactive experience in the room. So, don't just rely solely on the tools alone; be there with your kids and guide them through this harsh Internet world.
For more information, parents and guardians can check out these safety features and guides online at the Google Safety Center. How do you handle your children's screen time? Let us know in the comments below, and stay tuned for more trending tech news at TechNave.com.
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