Many parents are turning to technology to help keep their children safe, both online and in the real world. This trend is visible in Reddit discussions, as well as in recent studies.
A survey by Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, found that 93% of parents of children aged 3–17 are aware of at least one device-specific or network-based parental control app or setting to protect their children online.
Head of social projects at Findmykids.
Around 76% actually use such tools. The practice of monitoring children both online and offline has become so widespread that some now question whether anyone is not doing it.
The tools are developing along with audience expansion. Some track a child’s location in real time, others limit screen use or send SOS alerts. Below are some of the most useful options currently available on the market.
Tracking children online
According to Ofcom, more parents are interested in tools that monitor their child’s activities online. Attention to such technology rose from 34% in 2023 to 41% in 2024. This increase has been driven by parents of 3–5-year-olds (41% in 2024, compared with 30% in 2023) and 8–9-year-olds (45% in 2024, compared with 26% in 2023).
The reason is simple: even small kids are using phones these days, at the same time the risk of abuse online is rising. A recent study by Childlight, a child safety charity at the University of Edinburgh, estimates that 830,000 young people worldwide can become a victim of explicit photo sharing, sexual extortion, solicitation, deepfake images, pornography, and grooming.
Even Roblox (one of the most widely used platforms among children and teens, according to our internal stats) carries danger. Earlier this year, a California man was accused of kidnapping and sexually abusing a 10-year-old he met on the renowned gaming platform.
And last year, a person from Stroud, UK, was jailed for sex offences of children there. These are not isolated cases. A study of Roblox interactions found that its open chat features let strangers contact children as young as five, often keeping conversations alive until they could move to less public platforms.
Tracking tools can help parents see what apps children are using during a day or night, and step in before harm is done. One case from our user base shows how. A mother of a 12-year-old girl used a mounting app to discover her daughter was chatting with an older man on social media and planning to meet him after school the very next day. The mother immediately contacted the school, which intervened and kept the girl safe until she arrived.
Limit screen usage
It’s one thing to see where children are surfing on a school night, it’s another to control it. Some modern apps also let parents block access to certain platforms, such as dating apps, gaming sites, or TikTok. They can also set strict limits on screen time.
The need is clear. In the UK, children aged 8 to 14 use smartphones, tablets, or computers for nearly three hours a day on average. In some areas, such as Wales, the figures are even higher: one in five children spend at least seven hours a day on these devices, according to a recent survey.
Some children reported even more extreme usage: two, aged 10 and 11, admitted to spending nine hours a day on screens during weekends. And that affects their performance at school.
Interestingly, limiting screen time is something children are eager to do themselves. The share of 12–15-year-olds stepping away from devices has jumped from 22% in 2022 to 40% in 2024, based on a survey of 20,000 families across 18 countries.
Other research shows that young people are also trying to manage their wellbeing by pausing social media, avoiding negativity, seeking more positive experiences online, or even quitting platforms altogether.
Surroundings sound and SOS buttons
Some apps also have GPS technology that allow tracking a child’s location in real life. They show where kids are in a particular moment — are they at school, for instance, or have taken an unexpected detour, and suddenly ended up in a remote area with their teenage friends or worse.
Moreover, these tools often include SOS or panic buttons. With a single press, a child can alert their parents in case a school bully is approaching or a stranger on the way home. The notification is sent instantly, providing an adult in charge with the child’s precise GPS location.
In some apps, this function is combined with live audio features, allowing parents to tune in to the sounds around their child’s phone. Some of our users have reported overhearing heated arguments involving knives, incidents of bullying, and being able to step in before situations escalated.
While these tools might be useful, Kate Edwards, Associate Head of Child Safety Online at the NSPCC (a British child protection charity), warns that they may not provide a clear picture and “can cause unnecessary worry, as it can be difficult to determine what is happening from audio alone.”
Of course, children are constantly finding ways to bypass parental control tools. There are even Reddit threads and TikTok reels, where youngsters share tips for working around restrictions.
That is why experts stress the need for open discussions about online and offline safety and need for tracking. “These conversations should be non-judgmental and explore strategies and settings together to help build trust between a parent and a child,” says Edwards from NSPCC.
Parents also need to set an example. “The most effective way to utilize [these instruments] is to use them as a family and role model healthy and safe habits for tech use as a parent,” Edwards adds. “This could include setting screen time limits as a family, reviewing app usage together, sharing locations with each other etc.
This can help children to understand how these settings can play a role in keeping them safe online without feeling like there are rules being put on them which they may feel tempted to break.”
We list the best free parental control apps.
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