Although many young people today prefer to use their smartphone and tablet to access the Internet and to play, many still use their PC or Mac when they have to study or to play the best games (considering that the graphics are undoubtedly better). But if your child is always in front of the computer, it can be very useful to take advantage of the features offered by operating systems and some programs to set up a parental control on Windows and Mac, so as to impose limits of use or block access to certain sites .
In this guide we will show you how to activate and manage a parental control on the PCs used by our children, be it a Windows PC or a Mac . We will be able to check it and verify that our limits are respected, with the additional function of blocking the most dangerous sites automatically .
READ ALSO -> App to help parents with babies and children
Parental control on Windows 10
The latest Microsoft operating system offers integrated parental control, so you can configure access to your PC effectively without having to install any additional programs.
First let's get a Microsoft account, since most of the configurations are carried out online by the Microsoft Family site.
If we don't have a Microsoft account yet, we can create one for free by clicking on the link here -> New Microsoft account .
We choose the email address to be created and, on the next page, we choose a robust password to finish creating the account.
As soon as the account is ready, let's add it to our Windows 10 workstation, so we can unlock parental control remotely.
To do this, open the Settings app, click on Account and then open the Your info section.
From here we add the Microsoft account by clicking Sign in with a Microsoft account .
Enter the credentials of the account we created (or any other Microsoft account in our possession), and wait for synchronization. At the end we will be able to add new family accounts directly from this menu; let's go to the Family and other users section, then click on Add family member to enable parental control on a specific PC account (not only the Administrator account, but also any accounts used by minors).
We can choose to add a parent or child account, so as to set only the limits on the accounts that our children are authorized to use. We repeat the steps also on PCs intended exclusively for use by minors: their account must be associated with ours, so that they can be monitored every time they are connected to the Internet.
Once the accounts have been added, we open any browser (even from another PC) and connect now to the Microsoft Family site .
We now log in with the credentials provided, so that we can view the parental control management page on all the PCs (and accounts) added to our family.
We should see in the screen all the child accounts already configured; if we wanted to add more members to the family, just click on Add a member to the family below .
Once our child's account has been identified, just click on the items Time in front of the screen and Content restrictions to be able to set limits on the use of the PC (which will also be valid for PCs without an Internet network), avoid installing games that are not self-directed, prevent purchases from the Microsoft Store without consent and apply an effective Web filter to prevent access to dangerous or unsuitable sites for children (we can always choose the categories to block).
We can also check every activity in front of the computer by activating the activity log, available under the item Activities .
If our child often makes purchases on the Microsoft Store, we can set up an authorization notification, so as to keep costs under control; to do this we open the account restriction settings and activate the item The purchase of items requires adult approval .
NOTE : for the protection of privacy, an age verification may be required to confirm the parent account and to impose limits on our children. Microsoft currently requests this verification in two ways:
- By sending the digital signature
- By paying a commission on a credit or debit card in our possession
In the verification phase, we choose the preferred method, so as to unlock all the parent functions; more information here .
Parental control on Mac
If we have a Mac or MacBook and we want to set up parental controls, we can take advantage of the integrated system within the operating system, so that you don't have to install anything else.
To activate it, start the Mac, click on the Apple symbol (the bitten apple) at the top left, click on System Preferences and finally open the Parental Control menu.
A window will appear asking if we want to apply parental controls to the current account or if we want to create a new account to which we can apply them, make your choice and click Continue .
We always recommend creating a separate account (unless the Mac is for the exclusive use of the child), so that we can benefit from an administrator account without limits for us when we want to use the Mac.
Once the choice has been made to create the separate account, in the new window we will be asked for the name to be given to the new account, the age of reference of the minor and an access password (to be entered twice, with a suggestion) .
At the end, click on Create user, so as to access the actual control window: here we can choose, in the various tabs offered, which apps the minor can use, the limits to be imposed on the App Store, the sites it can attend ( acting as a whitelist, i.e. setting the sites it can access), the maximum time it can stay in front of the Mac, the privacy of the apps and other useful settings, such as, for example, blocking the modification of the dock, deactivating Siri, modifying printers and scanners, blocking explicit words in the built-in dictionary and using the simplified Finder.
If, on the other hand, we want to check what the minor did while using the Mac in question, just click on the Log button at the bottom right, to immediately access the logs of the activities carried out with the indicated account.
Obviously, any changes to these settings can only be made from the administrator account or by setting an administration password, so as to prevent unwanted changes.
Parental control programs
If we want to gain greater and more complete control over the PC used by our child, we can also use one of the following programs:
- K9 Web Protection, one of the best parental control programs, unfortunately no longer developed today but still good.
- Qustodio, perhaps the number one parental control solution, partially free
- Norton Family Premier, high level solution.
- OpenDNS Family Shield, useful for limiting the use of the internet.
- KeyLogger Spy programs, which record everything you write or click on your PC.
- Kurupira Web Filter an internet filter
By installing one of these programs we will be able to block the most dangerous and inappropriate web pages and to apply limits of use to PCs and Macs.
READ ALSO -> Parental control and family filter on PC and internet: 5 ways to keep children safe
