Apps that help parents protect kids from cybercrime may be unsafe too

Children, like adults, are spending more time online. At home and school pre-schoolers now use an array of apps and platforms to learn, play and be entertained. While there are reported benefits, including learning through exploration, many parents are still concerned about screen time, cybersafety and internet addiction. An increasingly popular technical solution is parental control apps. These enable parents to monitor, filter and restrict children’s online interactions and experiences. In this blog, Luci Pangrazio discusses why parent control apps might be unsafe for children and the importance of helping children self-regulate and reflect on their online behaviour.