I am trying to install some parental controls on my son’s iphone, and the service I’d like to use is Netsanity. Netsanity works by creating a profile and VPN, and it automatically turns the VPN back on whenever someone tries to turn it off.
However, my son has figured out that he can just create a new VPN and select that bogus VPN as the active one. This effectively shuts down all parental controls I have set up through Netsanity.
Does anyone know how I can prevent him from doing this? If there were just a way to restrict VPN settings using the iOS restrictions, this wouldn’t be an issue.
Thanks!
If he’s old enough to get around the VPN, he’s old enough for you to speak with him frankly about the things you’re worried he’ll find on the internet, and he’s old enough to find those things and ask you about them.
Idk maybe just trust your son a bit
It’s more a matter of things he’s already found on the Internet and is intent on consuming regardless of my opinion. And it’s also about regulating usage, more than anything. 13 year old boys don’t make the best choices regarding how much time to spend locked to a screen.
We’ve had the frank discussions, and we’re far past that.
Tried that, didn’t work. Thus, killing myself trying to find a way to regulate phone usage rather than simply taking the phone away. But, thanks for your input. It’s super insightful.
Have you tried the built in Restrictions in Settings? You can set it up to not allow adult content websites, not allow him to install all apps, or just apps with adult content, and restrict a ton of other things. Shit, you can even turn off Safari all together, delete all other web browsers and he wouldn’t have access to the Internet at all. However, it will not allow you to restrict the usage of the device like you are looking for.
As far as limiting his usage… Shouldn’t you be in charge of that though? Parenting is different for everyone, I know but maybe try something new… Give him a set amount of time a day on it or a timeframe he is allow to use it in. Outside that amount of time or time frame, take it and lock it up somewhere or hide it.
Or take the charger/all chargers and lock them up. Tell him he gets a full charge per X days and he can use it as he would like, but once it’s gone that’s it. That’s puts more responsibility on the usage in his hands. He will learn to use it less frequently.
Maybe if you downgrade his phone? Get him a flip phone. No internet functionality for him to abuse and you can still stay in contact.
These are good suggestions, thanks. I have tried Restrictions, and I still use them for some things. In my experience, it’s kind of hit-and-miss compared to dedicated platforms, but it’s pretty good. As far as adult content goes, I’m not as concerned about that as I am about a lot of sites that are risky for kids–things like Omegle, etc. I’m not going to join the ranks of parents who lost their children to predators (because their children were understandably curious but vulnerable).
You’re right that limiting usage is my job, but I don’t see anything wrong with looking for tools that make my job easier. We already require the phone to be turned in at night, and we limit it throughout the day. But if I can accomplish the same thing with less effort, why not? When they were toddlers, I didn’t let them go outside without me. I could have accomplished that by always guarding the door, but using locks was much easier and no less effective/involved. This is no different.
I like the idea about the chargers, though. Might use that. Thanks.
We’ve thought about that, and it’s probably what I’d do rather than taking the phone away entirely, but we’re trying to be less than extreme if we can. Thanks for the suggestion, though.