Parental controls on kids' smartphones

[biscoffphone]

I’m here for some ideas on how much parental controls people have on their kids’ phones. I’m thinking of handing over my old iPhone to my 11 yo who will be starting secondary school this September.

How much / little restrictions do you currently have on your child’s phone?

My youngest DS is 12 and has an android phone. He has time limits, he cannot download anything without my permission. Any in app purchases need my permission. Both his google account and his microsoft account are child accounts that have parental supervision. Apple have a similar feature - https://www.apple.com/uk/families/

There is also a helpful guide to setting up an iphone for your child https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/iphone/iphfd0b65920/ios

For my older children, this was mostly removed by yr10. Except one, who has additional needs and so it remains.

Just to add, the 12 yr old does not have any social media on his phone. If he wants to contact someone he texts or emails!

DD (11) has an android phone which is very locked down. She does have whatsapp for contacting friends, but no internet browser or youtube, so she's unlikely to see anything we'd prefer her not to. She can only install an app if DH or I enter a password. We can also shut the phone down remotely. So far, while she uses it, she's not overly attached to it.

My eldest 12 and has similar restrictions.

There is such a gap in the marketplace for a smart phone that is tailored specifically for kids and has controls in place by default rather than needs to be set up specifically for them.

You could do so much. For example you could have school control that locks the phone during lessons and then releases it during breaks. Have a special chat app that is only for kids that uploads conversations to a server for parents to monitor if they wish. That allows kids to do stuff like purchase bus tickets, view timetables etc.

And then a policy that it is the only type of phone allowed in schools.

Smartphone tech has got a lot of catching up to do.

Thanks all. No internet browser/YouTube sounds like a good idea. I just don't want DC to be on the phone all the time. Guess we only need phone/text/maps/gps for the time being

I agree. Only problem is the school head isn't so keen on restricting the use of phones during school days

Very stupid question, but how do you set up a phone so it doesn't have an internet browser? Is it as simple as just deleting that app??

(DD will need a phone for Y7 due to transport issues etc, so am keen to keep it as simple as possible for as long as possible!)

Screen time is set to lock down everything other than calls and texts at 9pm. No chargers upstairs so the phone has to come downstairs every evening.
Ask to install is enabled for DD1's phone after she installed Snapchat which she was specifically told I didn't want her on - we allow WhatsApp as that's what the kids at school tend to use.
Other rule I have is that if I see you using the phone naked (no screen protector or case - you get the Almost Broken Brick of Shame and No Street Cred phone back - which WAS used and dropped without these on).

I think it depends on the smartphone but on an iPhone I think you can do this via parental control on the parent's phone

@WhoAteAllTheDinosaurs on an Android phone, DD has a family Google account, which is linked to DH's account; that gives him the ability to require a password to install an app. He then deleted Chrome, so there's no browser on DD's phone