Earlier this year the folks behind Kidgy reached out to share their parental control application. The team behind Kidgy have created a mobile safety app for kids. It can help families supervise their child’s online activity remotely – from their own device. As a classroom teacher, I was often asked by parents for advice on apps to support student learning at home. They also wanted tips for managing screen time and online interactions. I was interested in learning more about this tool designed to support kids and families.
Safety App for Kids
The Kidgy parental control app acts as a digital assistant so families can supervise their child’s activity on their own device. Families using Kidgy can view websites and block apps they don’t want their child to interact with without direct supervision. Kidgy also lets families monitor their child’s online activity. Users can view texts and see a call log of all outgoing and incoming calls. Although you want to help students build skills to self-monitor and navigate online spaces independently, Kidgy can help start conversations about digital citizenship.
In addition to giving families the opportunity to monitor online activity for their children the way described above, there is also a GPS location tool. This lets families monitor their child’s current location and get alerts when students enter or leave certain zones they’ve set up too. So for example, a family can set up “home” as a safe zone and receive a notification when their child enters or leaves this specific GPS location. There is also the option to access the route history of a device. This lets you see where it has traveled during a particular time.
Supporting Students Online
One feature of Kidgy I found interesting is the ability to set a daily schedule for kids. Families can set up simple tasks and receive notifications once their children have completed each one. After a family member has assigned responsibilities for their child, they can watch the task being completed remotely with the Kidgy parental control app. This type of routine can help students build habits for time management and reflect on their productivity. This includes completing a homework task.
Families also have the option to set limits on how much time a child spends on specific mobile apps. These restrictions include the ability to manage time spent on apps like Snapchat and Facebook. There is also the option to restrict social media usage when children should be participating in a different activity during the day. Families can monitor installed apps on their child’s device and even limit or block specific apps. Kidgy lets users access a personal one-page report on a parent or caregiver device’s control panel. This provides a full picture of their child’s device activity. Helping students self-monitor their use of social media is an important conversation to have with children. Kidgy can help facilitate these discussions.
Kidgy is available for Android devices with an app on the Google Play Store as well as iOS devices for families using an iPhone or iPad. Visit their website to learn more about this resource for families!
