-
The School City of Hobart teaches Internet Safety to all students K-12, and also speaks directly on social media and safety. It is our goal that our students learn to use technology safely and responsibly. Though there are huge benefits to the Internet and social media, there are also significant dangers for users who aren't taught how to navigate safely. We encourage parents to learn as much as they can about the technology their children use, and actively engage with them.
Here are resources to help parents protect kids online.
Social Media Safety Presentation for Parents - This is a PDF of our parent presentation. It provides some information as well as links to resources from our live Social Media Safety presentations that we periodically hold for parents at our schools.
Social Media Safety Tips for Children
Smart Social Networking: Fifteen Tips for Teens
Common Sense Media is an outstanding website for parents to find age-appropriate material. We highly recommend taking a look at the site.
NetSmartz is a great website for information about Internet Safety, privacy, social media and more! This site has so much information and lots of resources. We use them ourselves!
Popular Teen App List - for Parents - Take a look at SmartSocial.com's list of good and bad teen apps that parents should know about. They'll let you know if they are good or bad, and they'll tell you how they came to that determination. Check it out!
Google's Be Internet Awesome guide for families - This guide is designed for families to use at home. There is also a link to Internet Awesome games children can play to learn more, Google's family management tools, and Ralp Breaks the Internet learning tools.
Keep Kids Safe! Apps to help parents manage and monitor usage.
DinnerTime is a FREE app that reminds kids to put their phones away throughout the day. It also lets parents “blackout” their child’s phone during certain hours/times when they want them focused on something else (like dinner or sleep). Parents can purchase an additional feature that provides detailed usage reports and more. Available for iOS or Android.
Family Link is a fantastic FREE option that works best on Android devices (though it also works on iOS devices with limited features). With Family Link, view your child’s activity, manage apps and set screen time limits, and see where they are with GPS tracking.
Mobicip is a low-cost application that provides everything a parent needs to manage, monitor and track usage on their children’s devices. Custom Internet filtering/blocking, scheduled screen time allowances, browser history, device locking and GPS tracking, and much more. Well worth the cost and available for almost any device – iOS, Android, ChromeOS, Windows, and macOS.
Safe Kids has a free version and a budget friendly premium version to help parents monitor and filter their kids’ usage on Android devices. The premium version even allows parents to track social media usage and receive real-time alerts.
Other great options include:
NetNanny, Kids Place by Kiddoware, Mamabear, My Mobile Watchdog
Also check out specific mobile cell carrier apps below in the Cell Phones/Mobile Devices section.
Screenagers: Next Chapter
This is Serious - We Must Talk Mental Health
Why We Care About Violence In Video Games and Shows
Cell Phones/Mobile Devices
Cell phones and other mobile devices are the biggest concern as children have these "on-the-go" and are constantly accessing them. The fact that they are mobile also makes it easier for children and teens to hide the contents and use. There are plenty of ways to still maintain control and help keep your kids safe if they must have a cell phone.
Most big cell carriers provide options for parent controls on mobile devices. These are generally the best options to manage and monitor a child's use, but there are other options that are great as well. Below is a list of options available to parents to help monitor use.
- Verizon Wireless - Verizon Smart Family is an extra addon that allows parents to monitor and control their child's phone directly from their own.
- AT&T - AT&T Secure Family is an addon from this carrier with similar options as Verizon Smart Family.
- T-Mobile - T-Mobile has Family Allowances which provides parents with a number of good options, though it doesn't seem as robust as some of the other carriers.
- iOS (iPhones/iPads) - Parent Controls built into iOS are FREE and can provide iOS users with quite a few options.
- Verizon Wireless - Verizon Smart Family is an extra addon that allows parents to monitor and control their child's phone directly from their own.
Select a School...
