Why Parental Controls on Phones Matter

In today’s digital age, smartphones are an everyday part of life for teenagers, offering access to learning, communication, and entertainment at their fingertips. While this technology brings many benefits, it also comes with risks that can impact students' safety, wellbeing, and academic focus. That’s where parental controls play an important role.

What Are Parental Controls?
Parental controls are tools available on most smartphones and apps that allow parents and carers to manage and monitor how their children use their devices. These settings can limit screen time, restrict access to inappropriate content, control app downloads, and monitor online activity.

Why Are They Important?

Online Safety:

Young people may unintentionally access harmful content or interact with strangers online. Parental controls help reduce these risks by filtering websites, limiting app access, and monitoring activity.

Healthy Screen Time:
Excessive phone use, especially late at night, can negatively affect sleep, concentration, and mood. Setting screen time limits supports a healthier balance between screen use and rest or study time.

Support for Learning:

Phones can be a distraction from homework and revision. Parental controls can help students stay focused during study times by blocking social media or gaming apps at certain hours.

Emotional Wellbeing:

Social media can sometimes contribute to anxiety, peer pressure, or negative self-image. Monitoring app usage helps parents start conversations with their children about healthy online habits.

Encouraging Responsibility:

Using parental controls isn't about spying, it's about guiding. As students grow, these tools can be gradually adjusted to promote independence and responsible digital behaviour.

In Summary
Parental controls are not about limiting freedom, they’re about creating a safer, more supportive digital environment for young people to thrive in. We encourage families to regularly talk about phone use at home and explore the tools available to make smartphones both useful and safe. To help with this we have included parent guides from #wakeupwednesday for both android and ios systems. 

Mrs A Kopsidas

Assistant Headteacher – Behaviour and Culture