What are parental controls for your child's device (via Google Family Link)?

• Android parental controls work through Google Family Link which allows parents to set digital “ground rules to help guide [students] as they learn, play, and explore online.” (Google)

• Parents can view their student’s activity, set parental controls to manage the apps on their child's Android/Chrome OS devices, and get recommendations of apps for their students
• Through the Google Family Link on the parent’s own device (including Apple products and web browsers), parents can set device limits for each member in their Google family group and even lock the device when it’s time to do something different
• Students must have their own Google Account and this account must be the only user on the device the parents want to manage with Family Link
• Students under 13 can sign up for an account managed by a parent with Family Link (Read more here: “How to Create a Google Account for Your Child” from Google For Families Help)
• Students 13 and over have the ability to “stop supervision” on their device according to Google, but parents will be notified and the device will be temporarily locked and unusable if they make this selection

How to access Parental controls on your student’s Android device

• Download the Family Link app on the parent’s device (Read more here: Get started with Family Link)
• Log in to the device you want to manage using the student’s Google account
• On your student’s device, tap “Parental controls” in the Digital Wellbeing menu
• If using Parental controls for the first time on this device:
• Tap “Get started”
• Select “Child or teen” for who will be using the device
• Select your student’s account to be managed
• Read the supervision information with your student and enter the student’s password at the bottom of the information
• Tap “Allow” and follow the prompts from Family Link to set up key features like:
• Screen time limit (For more help view this Google resource)
• Allow or block apps (For more help view this Google resource)
• Find your child’s location (For more help view this Google resource)
• We recommend always knowing your child's password for their device and any apps they use. Use the Family Media Agreement template to help record these login and passwords

How to block or unblock an app

On the Family Link App

1. Open the Family Link app
2. Select your child
3. Find the Apps installed card
4. Tap More
5. Tap the name of the app you want to allow or block
6. Turn Allow app on or off

On Family Link on the Web

1. Go to Family Link on the web
2. Select your child
3. Click Android apps
4. Turn the app on or off

How to require your approval for new apps on Google Play

On a Computer

1. On your computer, visit the Google Play My Account page
2. Click Family Group
3. Click a family member's name
4. Select All content, All paid content, Only in-app purchases, or No approval required

On an Android

1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Play Store app
2. Tap Menu
3. Tap Account
4. Tap Family
5. Tap Manage family members
6. Tap a family member's name
7. Tap Purchase approvals
8. Select All content, Only paid content, Only in-app purchases, or No approval required

On an iPhone or iPad

1. On your iPhone or iPad, visit the Google Play My Account page
2. Find the Family Group section
3. Tap a family member's name
4. Select All content, All paid content, Only in-app purchases, or No approval required

How to prevent your student from downloading mature apps

You can set up parental controls to restrict the content your student can download or purchase from Google Play. (Learn more in our Google Play Parental Controls resource)

1. Open the Family Link app
2. Select your child
3. Find the Settings card
4. Tap Manage
5. Tap Controls on Google Play
6. Under Content restrictions, choose your filters:

• Apps, Games, Movies, and TV: Choose the highest maturity level of content you want to allow for download or purchase
• Music and Books: Choose whether you want to restrict downloads or purchases of explicit content

Note: You can also manage this setting by clicking on your child's name at families.google.com.

How to set time limits for individual apps

If your student's device is running Android Nougat or newer, you can set time limits on apps to manage how much time your child can spend on a specific Google app each day.

1. Open the Family Link app
2. Select your child
3. On the "Today's activity" card, tap Set limits
4. Next to your desired app, tap Set limit
5. Set a daily time limit for the app
6. Tap Set

Tip:

• Time limits will apply to apps installed on all of your child's devices
• System apps aren't supported by the app limit functionality. Limits can only be set for Android N+ devices

How to set a bedtime on your student's phone

1. Open the Family Link app
2. Select your child
3. Find the Bedtime card
4. Tap Edit schedule
5. Follow the instructions on the screen to set a bedtime

How to lock or unlock your student's device

1. Open the Family Link app
2. Select your child
3. On the card for one of your child's Android devices, tap Lock now or Unlock

Note: You can also use a parent access code to unlock your child's Android device if it isn't connected to the Internet

How to see where your student's Android device is

1. Open the Family Link app
2. Select your child
3. Find the Location card
4. Tap Set Up
5. Turn on the settings required to see your child's location
6. Tap Turn on (Note: It might take up to 30 minutes to see your child's device location.)

How to change your student's location settings

1. Open the Family Link app
2. Select your child
3. Tap Manage Settings
4. Tap Location
5. Turn See your child's location on or off

How to manage your student's browsing on Chrome

1. Open the Family Link app
2. Select your child
3. Find the Settings card
4. Tap Manage settings
5. Tap Filters on Google Chrome
6. Choose the setting that’s right for your family:
7. Allow all sites: Your child will be able to visit all sites, except the ones you block
8. Try to block inappropriate content: No filter is perfect, but this should help hide sexually explicit and violent sites
9. Only allow certain sites: Your child will only be able to visit the sites you allow
10. Tap Manage sites to manually allow or block certain sites

Note: You can also manage this setting by clicking on your child's name at families.google.com.

How to block or allow certain sites

If you block a certain site, your student can ask for parental permission to visit it. You'll get a notification in the Family Link app where you can approve or deny their request.

• Websites: If you block or allow a specific website, like www.google.com, the permission won't apply to sites that begin or end differently, like www.google.co.uk or get.google.com/tips
• Domains: If you block or allow an entire domain, like Google, the permission applies to sites that begin or end differently too, like google.com, and images.google.fr

Block or allow a site

1. Open the Family Link app
2. Select your child
3. Find the Settings card
4. Tap Manage settings
5. Tap Filters on Google Chrome
6. Tap Manage sites
7. Tap Approved or Blocked
8. In the bottom right corner, tap Create
9. Add a website or domain
10. In the top left, tap Close

Note: You can also manage this setting by clicking on your child's name at families.google.com

How to change website permission settings

You can decide whether your child can give site permissions to websites they visit, including permission to use location, camera, and notifications

1. Open the Family Link app
2. Select your child
3. Find the Settings card
4. Tap Manage settings
5. Tap Filters on Google Chrome
6. Tap Chrome dashboard
7. Turn Permissions for sites and apps on or off

Note: You can also manage this setting by clicking on your child's name on the Chrome dashboard. When "Permissions for sites and apps" is off, children won’t be able to grant permissions to websites. However, permissions they have already granted will still be in place.

Manage your student's account on Chromebook

When you use Family Link to manage your student's Google account, you can let them sign in to some Google services on their Chromebook. You can also use the Family Link app to choose what websites your child can access using Chrome, supervise your student's app usage, and more.

See Chrome history

Important: If you added supervision to your child’s previously existing Google Account, you’ll need their help to do this.

1. On your child's Chromebook, open Chrome
2. In the top right, select More > History. This page shows your child's recent Chrome history

Clear Chrome history & data

Browsing history

1. Open the Family Link app
2. Select your child
3. On the "Settings" card, tap Manage settings >  Filters on Google Chrome > Chrome dashboard.
4. In the "History" section, tap Clear history

Tip: Your child's Google Account might have other kinds of browsing history saved at myactivity.google.com.

Browsing data

You can clear your student's browsing data, like cookies, saved passwords, and autofill form data.

If you sync a type of data, deleting it on your computer will delete it everywhere it's synced. It'll be removed from other devices and your Google Account.

Important: If you added supervision to your student's previously existing Google Account, you’ll need their help to do this.

1. On your child's Chromebook, open Chrome
2. At the top right, click More
3. Click More tools > Clear browsing data
4. Choose a time range, like last hour or all time
5. Select the types of info you want to remove
6. Click Clear data

Source: https://support.google.com/families/answer/7680868?hl=en