A tablet for a child can provide many great benefits. To start with there is the education, as there are a whole host of apps available. A tablet can also assist with kindergarten or school activities as well as teaching basic computer skills.
As well as the educational benefits a tablet also makes great entertainment for kids. You can load their favorite movies, provide access to games and allow them to take pictures. Setting up the tablet doesn’t have to be a daunting task.
Safety Concerns
Getting a tablet for a child is not an easy decision and you may have initial concerns. For a start, there are a whole host of privacy issues to consider. You may be wondering will your child be spied on or are the apps they have access to safe.
Another concern could be leaving your child with the tablet unsupervised and not knowing what they may have access to. One thing which has caused a lot of problems in the past for parents and children is kids and in-app purchases. Sometimes kids were racking up huge app bills in the $1,000’s.
This was able to happen when kids were playing their favorite games and were offered extra content such as gold coins or new characters. It was all too easy for the child to hit one button inside the game and this went onto the account holders bill.
Fortunately, a lot of this has been stamped out and there are safeguards in place to prevent this type of activity. However, it is always advisable to take the time to thoroughly go through all of the app settings and disable any type of single click purchase, even as an adult it can sometimes be difficult to know whether an app is about to charge for something.
Report Bad Apps
Before we delve into more detail on setting up an Android tablet for a child it is worth mentioning some controversy around certain children’s apps.
Very recently there has been a spate of apps aimed at children which have been removed from the Google Play Store after concerns were raised by large groups of parents. To put it mildly, these apps had a slightly sinister undertone.
If you have any concerns regarding apps it is important that you flag the app immediately and speak to other parents about your concerns and most importantly, you prevent your child from having further access.
Family Link
Something which parents have spent a long time pushing for is a dedicated child’s account and unfortunately, Google was not very keen on initially providing this. Before Family Link, parents would set up a Google account on behalf of their child and lie about the age.
For obvious reasons, this brought about a whole array of problems, mainly related to safety as the child would have full access to an adult account.
Family Link is an app that lets you set up Google Accounts for those that are under 13 and it is something which has been highly welcomed by parents.
The app itself will allow you to impose a number of restrictions. The restrictions include the type of apps they have access to, how long they have access to them and there is even a bedtime mode. One really important feature is being able to see the location of the tablet.
With Family Link, it is still possible that your child may still be exposed to inappropriate content that may be contained within certain apps. Therefore, it is important that you still vet the apps your child has access to.
Setting Up a Tablet for a Child
The very first step to setting up the tablet for a child is setting up Family Link from the Google Play Store. To start off, the parent should download the Family Link app to his or her device.
A Family Link account is very different to a regular account, although it is quite easy to set up. Once you download the app to your device, the app will guide you through setting up the account on your child’s tablet.
When you log into your Family Link account you will then be able to set up your child’s app permissions. As well as app permissions you will also be able to get reports daily weekly or monthly on what apps they are using the most, along with other useful data.
The whole process of setting up the account should take around 30 minutes to an hour. If you want to do so, you can choose to allow Family Link access to all Google services such as Gmail, Google Drive, and Chrome.
Keeping Your Child Safe with Family Link
After your account and your child’s account is set up, you can start to use the app’s features to keep your child safe, this includes setting device usage time and employing app restrictions.
Accessing these features is very simple. Log into your Family Link account, choose the child whose settings you want to amend and then click on manage settings at the very top.
From here you can also add a list of internet sites that you do not want to allow your child access to and set up a type of safe search if you are allowing your child access to the internet. The settings are not just restricted to apps, they also cover content from within Google Play such as movies.
Screen Time Parental Control
One feature of Family Link which gives you a great amount of control is screen time. The screen time setting allows you to specify how much time your child can use the device for. You can choose to automatically have the device shut down on certain days or at certain times.
This is a great feature if your child has unsupervised access to their tablet, especially if they have a habit of using it outside of the agreed time limits.
If you need to go further than that you can instantly shut down the tablet from within your Family Link account and the only way to unlock it is with a pin.
Conclusion
Google has finally given parents the control they need over children’s device usage which makes setting up a tablet for a child easy. If you have a child and want to give them a tablet it is now easier than ever to keep them safe. However, it is important not to just leave everything up to Google. Always take the time to manually review all the settings of any apps they may be using.
