Parental controls for IPOD touch

[ELaurie]

So ds 9 got an IPOD touch from my FIL for his upcoming 10th BD. FIL made the purchase without consulting us about it, and honestly, we had planned to hold off for awhile before introducing this nifty little piece of technology in our home.

 

He got it on Wednesday, and yesterday afternoon, a friend showed him how to access a You Tube video on the Internet with his IPOD by sitting on the side of our yard near our neighbor's home (where they have WiFi).

 

He and Dh had a long talk about this last night, and ds 9 has said he won't be doing this again, but now I either need to begin figuring out how to apply parental controls to the IPOD, or decide not to install this feature.

 

In addition, it appears that we also need to be more explicit in teaching him how to respond when he finds himself in these kinds of situations with peers.

 

I appreciate any help y'all have to offer in this regard.

 

Ugh.

[st_claire]

Why not either just tell him your rules and assume he will follow them, or let him look at the net and talk to him about what he looks at? (I would chose the second approach)

[Wendi]

Go to Settings - General - Restrictions. You will set a password for Restrictions. Under Restrictions, you have the option to allow/disallow Safari (web browser), YouTube, iTunes, Installing Apps, Location, and In-App Purchases.

 

Wendi

[ELaurie]

This is new territory for us.

 

So far, his only access to the Internet has been on our family computer, which in plain site in the family room. He's only been on a hand full of websites, primarily educational sites, although he has also looked up some items on Amazon and played games on Club Penguin.

 

We haven't encountered the need to establish guidelines until now, and I don't really know how effective the IPOD setting will be in screening out things we would prefer he not access.

 

I feel somewhat bewildered about where to even begin - up until a few years ago, the only website I'd ever been to was this one :blush:

[st_claire]

Since this is new territory for you, here are a few more thoughts on the topic for you.

 

There are several problems with blocking access in my opinion. For one, let's say you block the word "breast" but your kid wants to research breast cancer? Let's say you check up on what they are looking at, but their friend is being abused and they don't know if they should tell you, they won't look it up and find out that they should tell you because they are scared of you seeing what they look at.

 

Many people are afraid of their children looking up porn. I think cursiosity about sex is very normal for pre-teens and I'd rather they feel they can talk to me about it then worry I will shame them for their interest.

 

I believe the net is for explorering, unhindered. Let them play, explore, google anything they can think of. They will learn tons, both educationally and real-world things.

 

Just my two cents.

[SonshineLearner]

In the "family" room, and it parks in your bedroom at 8:30pm, or whatever... With my kids, I look through their texts. You can actually have it so you are the only ones that delete texts... Also, No pictures sent without asking. (Or, no pictures sent... or no pictures sent of people... etc..)

 

Carrie

[Guest raisingtoomanykids]

Can you explain how you set it to prevent the deletion of texts?

[Dmmetler]

Settings, Airline mode, then password protect settings. WiFi won't work until and unless you go in and change it. Honestly, this would be the ONLY way I'd allow a 9 yr old to have an internet capable device. I want that exploration done with me there to answer questions.