How to Use Parental Controls

Use Leopard and Snow Leopard's built-in parental controls to custom-tailor your child's Mac experience for their safety--and your sanity.

System Preferences > Parental Controls lets parents set sensible limits.

1. Create an Account

Open System Preferences > Accounts, and click the plus-sign button. Choose Managed With Parental Controls from the dropdown, and set a name and password for your kid’s account. Don’t give him administrator privileges, or he’ll be able to do whatever he likes. The next screen will have a button for Open Parental Controls. Click that (or go to System Preferences > Parental Controls) to start setting limits.

2. The Simple Finder

Checking the Simple Finder box (under the System tab) will really strip down your kid’s Mac experience--they won’t be able to modify the Dock or monkey with system files or settings. They get a simple Applications window, a Documents folder, and that’s about it. For little kids, this is a good place to start, but older kids will feel too fenced in.

3. Select Applications

The System tab is also where you specify which applications your kid is allowed to use. But if he needs one later that you haven’t authorized, you can add it in a snap by typing in your administrator password. And remember, Junior can’t install new programs without that admin password either.

4. Filter Content

The Content tab lets you hide profanity in the Dictionary app and on Wikipedia in Safari. When setting the Website Restrictions, keep in mind that they only work in Safari--so remember to disable any other browsers (see Step 3). If you choose “Try to limit access to adult websites automatically,” you can still blacklist specific sites with the Customize button.

5. Mail and iChat

The Mail & iChat tab lets you make sure your kids can only email and chat with people you approve of. This only counts for Mail and iChat, so make sure you disable any other clients (Entourage, Thunderbird, Adium, etc.) in Step 3. If they try to communicate with people outside your approved list, you’ll see it in the Log (see Step 7).

6. Time Limits

Set limits on how long your kids can use the computer on weekdays and on weekends. Then set a bedtime, so they won’t be able to log on after they’re supposed to be asleep.

7. Logs

The Log tab is the ultimate tattletale: See what websites your kids visited and if they attempted to visit any blocked ones. Find out what applications they used and for how long, and see a transcript of their iChats. Big Brother’s got nothing on you!

8. Click the Lock

At the bottom of the System Preferences window, click the lock icon to prevent changes to your selections. Anyone who wants to make a change (yes, even you) needs to type in an administrator password to do so.

A+ Websites for Kids

The dirty secrets of kids’ software is this: High-quality, kid-friendly alternatives to most of it can be found for free online. Poke around these fabulous sites for hundreds of games, activities, recipes, educational diversions, and more.

>> kids.discovery.com

>> pbskids.org

>> kids.nationalgeographic.com

>> kids.yahoo.com

>> disney.go.com

>> americangirl.com/fun

>> nick.com and nickjr.com

>> kidshealth.org/kid

>> si.edu and smithsonianeducation.org/students

>> scholastic.com/kids

Next Page: iPhone Apps for Kids >>