We have always heard that the Internet is a world, and the truth is that if you see it carefully that definition is correct. There you can find very good and instructive content, to those that from our point of view should not be freely accessible.
As parents, we must know that it is our responsibility ensure the mental health of our little ones. For this reason, we must supervise and monitor everything that our children do.
With Windows we can limit the free access that our children currently have and prevent them from accessing inappropriate content for his age. In accordance with this, we leave you this guide so that you learn to configure Windows parental control and protect the innocence of the little ones in the house.
What is a parental control and why should we activate it in Windows for our children?
He Parental control is a system that allows us as parents protect and monitor those things our children see. Thanks to this tool provided by different devices (both mobile and fixed computers) our children will have a limited version of systems and Internet browsing. In other words, parental control is what takes care of what our children see.
Every day, more parents are activate this service in order to prevent those information or files that can affect the tranquility of the little ones. The world of the Internet is very big, and with just one click, all users can access endless information, among them there is pornographic, illegal, aggressive content … For this reason, if we want our children to grow up with a safe childhood and a healthy mentality , we must prevent these types of content become present in them.
How does Windows parental control work? Main features
Parental control complies with a fairly simple but delicate process, where it executes a series of algorithms so that all information is filtered, depriving access to those topics considered dangerous. Windows is one of the systems that offers complete protection regarding this issue.
Next, we will show you some of its characteristics:
Activity Summary
The summary of activities can be very important, because it is through this, where we will obtain the different actions carried out by the user during their time in front of the computer. It includes all the activities inside or outside of navigation In Internet. Just by turning on the computer, data of all the activities carried out begins to be taken. This is done so that the parent can fully supervise and monitor the minor.
Screen time
When setting parental control in Windows, we can adjust the user’s screen time. With this we can choose a schedule of use, to avoid excessive consumption of the computer. This setting is quite valuable, especially when the child has his own PC. Access to the equipment is only possible during the hours chosen by the parent.
Web browsing
It not only keeps a record of the pages visited by the child, too filter the information preventing you from accessing dangerous sites for your emotional and mental state. With this, no child will be able to access sites inappropriate for their age.
Games and apps
This feature allows us to deny access to some profiles of Xbox, inappropriate content, and adult games to the child, so as not to corrupt their innocent mind, as well as the sharing of inappropriate content is prohibited. These also include inappropriate content online, dangerous videos and images.
Steps to configure parental control in Windows 10, 7 and 8 easy and fast
To configure parental controls in Windows, the first is to know what version of the operating system we are using, because each one has a different order of steps.
If we are already clear about which version we use, we proceed to configure with the following steps:
On Windows 10
On Windows 10 Parental control is configured in a slightly different way than what we are used to in Windows 7. It can be configured from the computer, or from an account Windows. The benefit of this is that even when we are not at home we can control everything our little one does.
First we must click on the button start, which is located in the lower left part of our desktop, there we will see an icon of Nut what is the setting. Then we click on the option accounts, then we select “Family and other people.”
We click on “Add family member”And it will ask us if we want to add a profile of a minor or an adult. As we are looking for is a protection for our little ones, we will select one child account. Each account must have a pin, so that the child cannot access the adult’s account and change the settings.
Here we go with the peculiar way of Win 10 to configure parental control. We must enter the Microsoft website. There, we will find from our account, the different accounts created for our family. Of the different tabs that the site offers us, we look for the option of “Family”. On the right side of each child account, there is the option of “Parental control”, we activate it and we are going to configure the different qualities of this function.
In Windows 7
Before trying Activate or set up parental control in Windows 7, we must create a password, so that the child cannot alter the established configuration.
Now with a sufficiently secure password, we go to the menu “Windows startup“, And we click on”Control Panel”. A window will open with different sections and settings, we will search for “User accounts and child protection”.
We click on “Parental control”, And then we will have to select the user account that will be destined for our little one. Finally, we click on the option “Activated”So that the configuration changes can be applied to the selected account.
Since we have active parental control, we can configure it in our own way. For example, to define a hours of use, we look for an option in the form of a grid that represents the seven days of the week and the hours of them. We indicate by means of a schedule, and only within this the user can access the functions. We can also decide whether or not he can play, and what games are allowed for the user, as well as the applications that can be used..
In Windows 8
For Windows 8, the parental control settings are very similar to that of the Win 7. It also provides us with the different functions such as setting a schedule for computer use, a summary of activations and more. To begin, as in the versions we mentioned above we must create a user for the minor, and the desired settings will be made to this.
Then we will go to the control panel, select user accounts, we will see the different registered users, and we click on the option “Child protection”. In the next window we will choose the user who will enter the child protection. With this we have already activated parental control for that account.
Having active parental control, we go to the child protection settings, and we adjust the permissions, according to what we want. In the configuration section Windows, we can see that there are the options to adjust the child’s screen time, web filtering, and restrictions on games and applications. We can select each one to adjust them according to what we need for the child. Having an adjustment of all this, the user will have prohibitions and limitations in his account.
Tips to make the Internet safer for your young children using Windows PC
Internet safety, for our children it should be our main concern, because the misuse of this great tool can lead to negative consequences in the future.
For this reason, if your operating system is Windows, we recommend that you follow these tips:
Block adult content
The adult content, like pornography and its derivatives, are completely harmful to the mental health of our children. We must remember that children are very curious and these types of content can seriously affect his personality and behavior. When configuring the user for our minor, we must avoid using apps that influence this, in addition to that, when adjusting the web filtering, we must request Windows that prohibits access to sites with certain words.
Restrict games not suitable for your age
Before the child experience a new video game, we must first know them as their parents or caregivers, because there are very aggressive games for their age. Like their relatives, the least we want is for our children’s childhood to be disturbed. Each video game is intended for an audience, we must realize and adjust with Windows than games cannot be played for children under 12 years old, if this is the case.
Monitor them while they’re online
Despite Google Chrome and Windows allows us supervise our children when they are connected to the PC and the browserWe must always be very aware of everything they do, who they write with, and their favorite content.
Clearly we must not harass the child, that is why we must know how to use the tools that are provided to us. Windows You can save each activity for the child, just like Google, If we constantly monitor what they do without them noticing, we will be protecting our child. Among the benefits that it offers us Windows 10, is that we can access the information without having to enter the PC that the minor is using, because connects using Microsoft account.
Set hours of consumption
We must rely heavily on Windows for set a schedule for computer use. It is not recommended that a child spend so much time on a PC, neglecting their real environment, for this we must set a time for them, wherever they want or they will not have to stop using the PC at the established time.