Monday, August 28, 2017

When you can't change the channel for them

Long ago, in a time we refer to in our household as BC (before child), my wonderful husband made the entertainment system very simple for me to use. No matter how many new devices and consoles were hooked up, he ensured that there was one remote to rule them all. And, even better, the various functions were all labeled clearly, so I could pick the right activity at the push of a button.

And there was peace throughout the land.

Of course, this simplicity also meant that in the age of AC (after child), our son figured out how the entertainment system in our household worked. I recall telling him once that he could watch a movie and before I could go upstairs to help him access it, he was already flipping through the age-appropriate movie list we had made for him.

This, of course, has led to several followup conversations around the rules in our household, and how he is not permitted to access the streaming services on his own, or if he is already watching one, leave his profile.

Because, as most of us have determined already, a lot of the streaming services fail when it comes to parental controls.

Sure, when they are young, they will stay in their profiles, or not stray to far from their playlists, but when they get a little older and wonder more about adult content...well, then it becomes a problem.

So, I have to ask for advice around potential future issues: How do you monitor your child's access to content on a streaming service? Please share your policies and progress in the comments.

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