We dropped our cable two years ago. I LOVE TV, but was not satisfied with the cable bills and the programming available. We have had Netflix streaming since we made the switch.
I love Netflix!
Especially for my kids! I was used to having a DVR and being able to turn on a show for the kids during the day. Netflix is the best substitute with all of the selection of streaming content they have available.
My kids love Netflix!
My six-year-old son who is notoriously famous for waking us up before 6:00 AM finally figured out how to turn on Netflix. I was glad that he figured it out because it meant that I could get an extra hour of sleep. He normally picked something from our queue (He-man Masters of the Universe — GREAT SHOW! Just make sure the volume is down! It’s difficult to wake up in a good mood to that theme song). I figured he hasn’t ventured out yet, so we are safe. HOWEVER …
My kids have access to many Netflix devices
I added a survey to this blog post.
PLEASE FILL OUT THE SURVEY!!
;
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I wanted to get more information from you on how you use Netflix in your home!
I can’t expect you to fill it out and I not tell you about our house ..
We do have a streaming account.
One kid can turn it on.
I turned on Parental Controls Today
We have a Blu-Ray Player, Wii Nintendo system, iPad, iTouch, and iPhone.
My kids usually watch something on Netflix at least once a day. Lately a little bit less because the weather has been good.
Can you see the problem …
Eventually I won’t be able to control what my kids watch on Netflix!
With so many devices, and so much exposure, my kids will eventually be able to turn on Netflix and browse through the libraries. There is a lot of GREAT programming, but there is also a lot of programming that I wouldn’t want my kids to see.
What is the answer?
Netflix Parental Controls
I went through the menu’s and set this up for myself. Instead of using the parental controls on each Blu-Ray player, it is easier to set the Parental controls within the Netflix account.
Warning!! No Double Standard with Netflix Streaming!!
I was hoping that I could enable a four digit password to unlock content that I would like to see (but not my kids). It’s either all or nothing. Also, it is difficult to turn on and off. The status at the end of the menus states, “Please wait 8 hours for this setting to be in effect.”
How to turn on Netflix Parental controls:
Follow the directions below. Please leave a comment if you have any trouble or questions!
It’s great to think that someone in India might be really concerned about the status of our computers. However, it is most likely a scam. My mother-in-law got a call last night. The caller had a very thick Indian accent.
Caller: Hello, I am calling from the Global Internet Maintenance Department. We are receiving a lot of messages from your Computer. You must have a virus. If you can go to your computer I will walk you through the steps to fix the issue.
Pause
Mother-in-law: Ummm.. my computer is acting weird. I can’t get the Internet to work. But my daughter-in-law usually fixes my computer.
Caller: Yes, this must be it. We need to fix it now.
Mother-in-law: But I don’t know how to do computer stuff. I need to talk to my daughter-in-law.
Caller: Go get your daughter-in-law NOW.
Mother-in-law: She doesn’t live here and she’s not here right now.
Caller: I’ll call back later when she is there.
She felt a little uneasy about this at this point and the caller was really pushy.
Mother-in-law: Why don’t you give me your phone number. She can call you if she has any questions.
Caller: I don’t know if that will work.
Mother-in-law: You don’t have a phone number to reach you?
Caller: Yes, I do …
The caller then gave a local number. When I googled Global Internet Maintenance Department all that comes up are stories of scam attempts.
The computer was crashing, but it was because windows update had to install about 15 updates. Once the updates were installed and the computer was rebooted, I re-scaned the computer with the AVG Internet Security tool. No issues!
So, don’t fall for the scam! Get help from someone that you know not someone on the phone!
Happy Mother’s day to all of you mothers out there that have discovered my blog. I hope that your day is full of love and appreciation for all that you do.
I LOVE Mother’s day. Some people feel guilty because they compare themselves to other mom’s and they feel they don’t measure up. Others get upset because they do not get the appreciation they feel they deserve …
I feel grateful for the chance that I have to be a mother and to be able to raise such cute kids. I am grateful for my own mother and for all of those other mother’s out there who are such great examples to me.
So, enjoy this weekend! Plant some flowers! Go shopping! Read a book! Do something that you enjoy but just can’t find the time with all of your motherly responsibilities. That’s my gift to you!
It can be very entertaining (The laughing yoga videos are my new favorite).
It can be very educational.
It can be inspiring.
Overall, it’s great tool and it’s not going away.
But is there a YouTube for Kids?
The scenario is very familiar. We let the kids watch something on YouTube. It’s a very entertaining video. They are then displayed similar videos. They can easily click through series of videos. Here’s the problem:
This trail of YouTube videos can easily take a wrong turn. SCARY!!
Even on innocent videos the comments below the YouTube video can be full of vulgar language. GROSS!!
Some videos do not match the title and description. GAK!
How to protect Kids on YouTube?
1. Turn on SafeSearch on YouTube on Your Laptop or Desktop (see instructions below)
2. Determine how you are going to restrict YouTube content for your kids on mobile devices
3. Consider additional controls like a web filter
YouTube Safe Search Explained
It blocks offensive language – Safe Search automatically blocks comments. I have seen many popular YouTube videos. However, if you scroll through the comments it only takes until comment 10 or 15 to see foul language. If you want to view the comment you can click on a link to view text comments. Any foul language is masked by askterisks ‘*.’ I tried it out and it worked. See below. I even did a search for the ‘*’ and they were definitely blocking foul language. (I don’t think you need a screenshot of that!)
It also blocks searches that may be targeting objectional material. So if someone is looking for bad material they won’t get any results. Or they may only a few results including a funny video with a hairless cat when they search for ‘naked.’
PC Mag review - When YouTube began, you had to rely on the adherence to their community guidelines to filter out garbage that people post. Google came out with parental controls that help you block offensive material that may be still ‘ok’ according to the YouTube community.
SafeSearch Caveat
“Again, please remember that this feature, though effective, is not 100 percent accurate and does not guarantee that all objectionable material will be filtered out.”
We STILL need to stay close by when our kids are watching the latest funny cat and dog YouTube video .
Q: Does Safety Mode work on mobile devices?
A: No. Safety Mode for YouTube Mobile is not available at the moment.
Let me repeat … There is NO Safety Mode for Mobile YouTube videos!!
In my experience as a mother, kids are accessing YouTube more often from mobile devices, than from the desktop computer. Gak!!
Some Additional controls for Kids on Mobile YouTube
I could only find one application that allows YouTube video filtering. YouTube Videos for Kids. It is $.99 and claims to filter YouTube videos. Similar to how you can restrict an iphone or iPad for webfiltering by installing the K9 web filter (disable Safari first), you could disable YouTube and install this application. HOWEVER, the reviews said that the application crashes a lot. For all of you who want an idea for the next app to develop: Parents need a way to filter Safari, YouTube and other Internet content on their mobile device. Honestly Apple, Droid, etc. should really offer this as part of their IOS for FREE!
What I would do, until someone fills in this gap of YouTube filtering on mobile devices.
Set up favorites for YouTube videos. I know my kids love certain videos and could watch and re-watch them over and over. So instead of being led down the YouTube ‘Choose your own Adventure’ trail, your kids can easily replay their favorite videos.
Disable YouTube on a device if you cannot monitor it at all times. My post regarding iTouch/iPhone/iPad Security goes step by step on how to do this.
Enable YouTube if you are present and be close at hand as your kid pulls up their favorite video.
Additional Controls for Kids on YouTube
Web Filter for Kids on YouTube
I did a high level explanation and description of web filters in this post. When researching YouTube, there aren’t that many web filters available that will FILTER within YouTube. Safe Eyes by McAffee does have video filtering. You should check it out!
Most web filters either ALLOW or BLOCK YouTube according to your restrictions. That would mean that you would still need to set up the safe search settings and still be able to monitor what your kids are watching on YouTube.
If any of you know of other web filters that help with YouTube content, please post a comment!
YouTube Safety Center
This is a helpful video from YouTube Safety Center. It goes through general safety guidelines for posting and viewing videos on YouTube. It’s a great refresher for you and your kids. The whole family should watch!
How to turn on YouTube SafeSearch
In case you can’t read the writing embedded in the picture below. You need to do this step for EVERY browser (Google chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari) that is installed on your computer. You also need to do this step for each YouTube profile (in case you have multiple in your family). Sound familiar? You need to remember to set Google Safe Search on multiple browsers as well. Also, I did test out clicking on the hidden comments. Take my word for it. It blocked the vulgar language.
Don’t put your kids out to sea! Teach them how to do a google safe search!
During the BYU Women’s Conference, the most common question I received was, “I have web filter installed (K9, or NetNanny). Why do I sometimes get bad images coming up on Google? There was a cute little grandma that said, “My Granddaughter’s name is Lily. She typed “Lily Love” into the search bar. You wouldn’t believe the images that came up!! AND I had K9 running at the time!” Apparently there is a ‘Lily Love’ in the adult entertainment community.
My answer .. “You need to turn on google safe search.”
Explained .. The web filters installed and running on your computer ALLOW content from google, or any other search engine. The search engine itself should have a safe search setting. This would prevent inappropriate images from coming up during a routine google search. Don’t get me wrong .. I LOVE google. I use it at least 10 times a day. My son asks me random questions and if I don’t know the answer he says, “Well, you could look it up!” It won’t be long before he is typing in his random questions on a computer.
How to turn on google safe search?
It’s pretty simple. When you go to google in the far right corner there is a settings button. Click on it. Then go to search settings.
Now turn the google safe search filters setting to strict.
How to lock google safe search?
If you click on the link to lock google safe search, you need to enter your google account and password. This will allow the web browser settings to be locked. You would have to enter your google password in order to turn google safe search off.
This needs to be done on every web browser!
If you have multiple browsers installed (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari) you need to turn on google safe search and lock google safe search on each browser.
I found a great video tutorial which shows you how to lock multiple web browsers.
Safe Search Options for Little Kids
Just like you put on a preserver for your toddler or baby before going into water. You may want to look at some websites that make the ‘searching’ process that much more safe.
Safesearchforkids - “SafeSearch for Kids is the child friendly search engine where safe search is always ‘on’, powered by Google. The safe browsing feature allows your kids to safely surf the web with a much lower risk of accidentally seeing illicit material.”
kidclicks- “It’s the Safe Little Kids Search Engine to help keep kids safe online. Kid Clicks has Google working hard in the background to streamline safe clicks for every search term entered. Strict Google Filtering is On and Locked.
I mentioned in my “Surf Safely” post the Kidzui browser. The nice thing about the browser is your kid will not ‘accidently’ click on an unprotected google search toolbar, or website.
I am a Security Professional
I have been working as an IT Security Professional for 9 years. I have multiple certifiations,
CISA and
CISSP.
This site is dedicated to teaching security to people, particularly mothers. This site will teach in a manner that is easy to understand, and still entertain.
