In terms of technological knowledge, kids of this generation are way ahead of their parents. Children can learn how to use any new technology just by going through the technology for a couple of minutes. Parents might take 2 to 3 days just to get familiar with the technology.
Children spend most of the time on the internet and technology, parents are concerned with what their kids are doing on the internet. Since there are trillions of content on the internet and all the content is not appropriate for kids, hence parents are using parental control apps to monitor their kids’ activities on the internet.
There are many parental control software to invade the kid’s online history and monitor their device activities. On the internet, you can find parental control apps with all the features you are looking for.
Similarly, the internet also contains all the details about the ways to break free from those invading software. As I already mentioned above, kids are a way too smarter when it comes to technology and they will always find a way to control technology according to their own will.
Even when you use parental control apps to monitor your kids, after a certain age, they inevitably try to decline the parental control apps. One of the reasons for this is the increase in privacy or the growing age. And they may try to find ways to escape it. But that’s the phase when they’re most likely to be in trouble.
In these modern days, if you want to keep your kids safe, it is necessary to be as smarter as them, if not more. So, you need to know how your kids can bypass those parental controls without your knowledge.
Why Do Kids Try To Bypass Parental Control?
As your children grow up, they don’t like to stay under your control also they do not like when you try to invade their privacy. Most kids, especially teenagers, feel the need to have a personal life without their parent’s interference. Likewise, they might get into some situations, where they feel uncomfortable sharing with their parents.
While on the other hand, you constantly worry about your kids getting on the wrong track on the internet. You may worry about who they are talking to and what they are viewing on the internet which can keep you under constant stress.
Due to an increase in concern towards the kids, many parents may use parental control apps. But there are many things on the internet that the kids wouldn’t like to share with their parents. In such cases, they may search for ways to bypass the parental controls.
You may be wondering why and how your kids can bypass parental control apps that you are using to monitor your kids. Here, I’ve listed some of the reasons why the kids try to escape them from parental control apps:
Gaming:
One of the reasons why you use parental control apps is to minimize the gaming habits of your kids. You may know that one thing that kids, especially boys, are most obsessed with is online gaming.
Online/mobile games are the best source of entertainment and pleasure for young ones. With the increase in the variety of games, children and teenagers are obsessed with play new online games every day.
It is not bad if it is played within the limit; the kids enjoy themselves, which is good. But usually, children overdo it, and it can be a huge problem; the kids may get addicted.
Addiction To Adult Sites:
Kids these days are into the internet that they’ll stumble upon adult sites after a certain age. The internet is a huge portal, and there are so many ads on different sites that may lead kids to adult sites.
And once they start watching the adult content, there is a huge chance that they may get addicted. That addiction may lead to the need for using the internet against their parent’s needs. Also, adults websites will affect your kids’ mental and emotional well-being.
Social media:
Social media is can make or break your kid and maybe because of the unpredictability of social media, people are fanatic over it.
It is a huge craze among kids especially teenagers. They get to know new people, talk to new people; hence, they want to keep using it regardless of their parent’s desires.
And sometimes, even you might be addicted to social media, and seeing your craze towards social media your kids will start to think social media is a good place with zero harm. This is also one of the reasons for the increase in social media use among children.
I know so many kids who don’t leave the computer or the internet even while having food. So, the parents try to restrict the kids by using parental control apps. Hence, to overcome this trouble, the kids may feel the need to bypass those parental controls.
Methods Kids Use To Bypass Parental Controls:
Nowadays, this is rarely anything that is not available on the internet. From good to bad to worst, anything you want is available on the web.
Similarly, many methods help the kids to bypass the parentals controls available on the web, and here I have listed a few to them:
Brute-Force Attack:
Brute-Force Attack is a method of cracking a password by guessing it multiple times. This method may or may not be reliable. There are very few chances of this method working. Nevertheless, it cannot be taken for granted.
How Is It Used?
It is a trial and error login method where kids keep on guessing the password until they get it right. Most parents keep extremely simple passwords to protect their devices. Hence, the kids can easily crack the passwords and use the internet as per their desire.
How To Prevent It?
You can easily prevent your password by using a strong password. Not only for parental controls but for all the things on the device, you must use a strong and difficult password so that no one can guess it easily.
Using VPN:
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network, which helps to create a protected network connection using public networks. It hides your IP address and disguises your online identity.
Through VPN, you can access the internet as a fake identity, making it difficult to track your online activities and get rid of all those parental control apps.
Tech-savvy kids are familiar with VPN and know how to use them. You may know even know when your kids are using VPN to view content which you are restricting them from viewing.
How Is It Used?
Many VPNs come free of cost and can be used easily on any device, be it a phone, laptop, or iPad. Once installed, it can easily be used by anyone, including the kids. It acts as a bridge between you and the internet and helps you keep all your data safe.
How To Prevent It?
VPN is an extremely dependable method when it comes to using all the apps secretly. So, the only way the parents can prevent this is by physically checking whether there are any VPNs installed on their kid’s device or not.
Using Google Translate as Proxy:
Google translate is like a proxy server that helps the kids to use blocked and restricted sites. This server is safe to a certain extent and is highly preferred by all those who secretly use blocked sites.
How Is It Used?
This is the method where Google translate is used as a proxy. It helps to access the blocked sites by first translating the URL into another language and then again translating it back to English.
After this, the restricted page link opens up, which cannot be monitored by any of the parental control apps.
How To Prevent It?
To prevent the kids from using this method, you have to use an advanced-level parental control application. There are very few parental controls that detect the proxy server’s use, hence the parental control app must be chosen wisely.
Factory Reset:
The factory reset is a method of deleting every piece of information stored on the device. This method removes the data and removes all the restrictions that are there in the device. It is just like using a new device. Kids mostly use this technique to get rid of all the restrictions and parental controls.
How Teens Bypass Using Factory Reset Method?
Kids can easily reset their devices by using this method. It is an easy, 2-3 step method that helps the kids clear out all the invasions in their device.
How To Prevent It?
To reset a device, you’ll need the device’s credentials, and the only way to stop the kids from resetting their device is by hiding the credentials of the device they use.
Dual Boot:
Dual boot means installing two different Operating Systems (OS) in a single computer or laptop as per the hardware requirement. For example, installation of Linux alongside Windows or Installation of Windows 10 alongside Windows 7.
How Teens Bypass Using Dual Boot Method?
When the parents install parental controls on a device, it only works on the installed system. Thus, the kids install another Operating system in the device and start using the internet on the other OS.
The kids can use anything on the other OS Freely. The parents monitoring their kids have no idea that another OS is used to escape the parental control app.
How To Prevent It?
To prevent the kids from dual-booting the OS, you can set a BIOS password that they don’t know. You can also physically check whether there are any other OS installed or not.
Conclusion:
This generation is all about technology, and to cope with your kids, you must keep yourself updated about all the technology-related things.
Kids are way smarter when it comes to the internet, and sometimes that smartness can lead to big trouble. Thus, the parents must be well aware of the things kids are doing on the web.
