Keep Your Kids Safe
WORDS: calecoareco
KIDS are atchin T ore than eer eore these ays ien
the COID crisis that has enule the nation So are
arents really clue u on hat they are atchin What
they shoul e ale to see an hat they shoulnt e ale to see
While you ay or ay not isaree aout hether teleision
has taken thins too ar in recent years ien the slo erosion o
content restrictions you still ant to ake sure that your chilren
arent eose to inaroriate aterial hen they are still too
youn to unerstan or aeuately rocess hat they are seein
n iolent seual or otherise roleatic content is
eeryhere an on ost netorks roacast or cale Short
o throin eery screen in the house out o a ino hat are
you to o The anser is arental controls hich hile you
ay not hae hear o the as uch since their rst ush onto
the arket are stanar ith ost teleisions or cale oes
Sources of Parental Controls
We nearly uarantee that i you hae a T you hae access
to arental controls et ho can you access the an hat
iht e the ierences eteen the ere are soe notes
on the sources
Smart TVs (and normal ones as well)
Many Ts een oin into the s ha soe or o arental
control an since the einnin o the year the Unite
States an thus eectiely the entire Western arket has
reuire nearly all Ts to hae a Chi installe hich ies
it asic arental control caailities To use the Chi youll
enerally ant to use your reote control to access the enu
o your T not your cale o or another eriheral in hich
youll n the otions or arental controls ou ill likely ant to
ollo the Tsecic instructions ro there
Cable Boxes
o you iht access ill ary ro oel to oel an een
sotare uate to sotare uate ut ost i not all cale
oes hae uiltin ethos to control the content that can an
cannot e easily islaye I youre eer conuse aout hat
is ossile ith your cale roier you can check their esite
or the cale o anual or otentially call custoer serice i
youre runnin into iculties
Cable Provider Apps and Services
This is a inor istinction at est as you ill n that there are a
e coanies that are ore inole ith the arental control
rocess an iht ake aailale as an other tools that
can ake utiliin arental controls easier saer ro ailure or
reach or roie other enets
Much like the oeration o your cale o you ill ant to
reerence the esite o your cale roier to see hat aailale
an the est an ost eectie ethos o oeration is are
How You Can Use Them
In ost cases esecially ith oern Ts you can also use
arental controls or siilar settins on your teleision to liit
usae tie Whether you ant your kis to ocus on other thins
or you sily ant to liit screen tie in hich case youll also
ant to ut siilar controls on hones an couters you are
the one in control
ou can also oten restrict the tie o ay the T is use Is the
tie eore inner suose to e eicate to hoeork
Then you can roaly reuire a PIN to e entere eteen the
hours o our an si to atch T
Deenin on hat tools you hae aailale you iht also
e ale to lock secic shos you n articularly oensie
or inaroriate or your househol We oulnt recoen
oin sho y sho as youll neer e one ith your laor ut
certain situations iht arrant closer attention alon these lines
Questions to Ask
Theres ore to keein your kis sae an ealuatin a sho
than ust noticin i se or iolence is ein eicte or i there
is stron lanuae It oul roaly e ore accetale or
iolence to e islaye ith the raity it oul hae in real lie
rather than hae your kis see soethin that oul e at hoe
in an Rrate action or horror l Siilarly you iht e ore
concerne aout shos that islay unrealistic oy stanars
or roie seual isinoration
Consier the olloin uestions aout the content an hether
arental locks oul e aroriate:
• re a haits iolent ehaiors or selhar or nelect
lorie in any ay re conseuences or actions shon
• o is a lanuae use an hat connotations oes
the a lanuae hae Is it iscriinatory or reuice
in nature
• Is there anythin to e learne ro or anythin aout the
sho that akes the enets outeih the risks or roles
• Is the sho in alinent ith other content your chil is
accustoe to aily an hat iht e encountere in
eeryay lie
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