Keep Your Children Safe and On-Task With iPad Parental Controls

Aug 9

Reading Time: 1.75 min

Keeping up with technological advancements can feel like driving a Formula 1 racecar without a brake pedal. As technology is ever-advancing, it’s overwhelming to remain knowledgeable – especially when monitoring your child’s iPad activity.

Fortunately, we can use a wealth of tools to ensure our children stay on task when it comes to online learning. Through parental controls, content filtering, and active supervision, it doesn’t have to feel like an uphill battle to maintain a solid handle on what your child sees on their tablet.

Lock the iPad on a specific app.
Enable “guided access” on the iPad if your child uses a learning app. This feature locks the iPad on one app so your child can’t wander onto YouTube to watch video game tutorials or slime-making videos. “Guided Access” can be found in your Settings under “Accessibility.” See this tutorial to lock the iPad on a specific app.

Enable parental controls through the iPad’s settings.
Enable “guided access” on the iPad if your child uses a learning app. This feature locks the iPad on one app so your child can’t wander onto YouTube to watch video game tutorials or slime-making videos. “Guided Access” can be found in your Settings under “Accessibility.” This tutorial on setting up parental controls is concise and straightforward.

Here is a glance at what you can do with the built-in parental controls:

Schedule downtime.
Where do I find this setting on the iPad?
Settings › Screen time › Downtime

This is where you can decide what days and what hours of each day you’d like your child to have access to their iPad. Parents can choose the same schedule every day or customize which days and times are allowable.

Choose which apps are permitted or prohibited.
Where do I find this setting on the iPad?
Settings › Screen time › Content & Privacy Restrictions › Content Restrictions

Once you turn on the content and privacy restrictions on the iPad, you can choose from various options, including setting preferred movie and app ratings and limiting inappropriate websites and explicit content. This is where parents can customize controls more personally.

Restrict specific apps, and allow others.
Where do I find this setting on the iPad?
Settings › Screen time › App Limits › Add Limit

Once you enable “Add Limit,” you can restrict which apps your child can access. Parents can set the iPad only to allow educational apps (like Lou Adventures)!

Control who can communicate with your child.
Where do I find this setting on the iPad?
Settings › Screen time › Communication Limits

This is where you can prevent an unexpected text from interrupting your child’s learning. Parents can choose specific contacts to make accessible or inaccessible during screen time and downtime.

Remember that while you can passcode protect these settings, every solution has hiccups. While it’s reassuring to know you can use technology to guide your child’s iPad use, it’s important to supervise and check in with them as they digitally learn. Be sure to give yourself grace as you and your child continue learning to navigate this awesomely advancing world!