GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.
If Santa brought your child a new electronic device last night, you may want to think twice as to what they have access to on the internet.
Chris Mckenna with Protect Young Eyes says it's never too late to set up restrictions.
“Every device is a little different. That’s why our recommendation is to do your homework before you buy it,” Chris Mckenna said.
If you didn't do your homework, here's a crash course. Almost all devices come with built in parental controls. It may vary depending on the device. Here's an intricate guide that goes over controls based on what type of gift your child may have gotten.
A good place to start, is talking to your children about the rules and expectations you have for them when using the internet.
“Have conversations with your kids, about what the expectations are, how you expect them to use it, because kids aren’t typically just born knowing how to use the internet well” Mckenna said.
An easy way to start is by setting restrictions on the "Screen Time Control" setting on Apple devices.
““Screen time controls allow parents to do exactly what the name implies, which is control some aspects of the amount of time that the kid can be on the device,” Mckenna said.
You can also filter out what types of music, movies, and website accessible on the device, as well as password protect the settings.
But you don't need to only be worried about giving your child a phone.
“There is no digital device that you can put in your kids hands today that doesn’t have some way for me to get to the internet,” Mckenna said.
