Smartphones have been the necessity of everyone; you will need a smartphone to call and view location, maps, take pictures, know the time, and many more.
You might carry your phone even for your safety. And you also provide a phone to your kids for their safety so that they can call you whenever they are in trouble, or you can view where they are.
With the increase in the use of smartphone usage among teenagers, adult and harmful content consumption is also increasing. Peers usually influence teenagers, and when they have a smartphone, they can view anything they want without knowing what their kids are doing.
Effect of Smartphone on teenagers and kids
Even though smartphones ensure children’s safety whenever they go out, we cannot deny the negative impact of smartphones on teenagers; here are some of the effects of smartphone on teens:
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Sleeping Problem
All teenagers keep their phones aside when they are asleep so that they can respond to calls and texts anytime. Teenagers can stay till late at night chatting with their friends.
Similarly, teenagers can spend all night binge-watching movies and series. When they continue these activities, their sleeping pattern gets disturbed.
Also, most kids use their phones in the dark by turning off their lights, creating tiredness. According to research, it was found that due to excessive use of smartphones, teenagers are receiving less amount of sleep than they require.
Stress
You may know that teenagers are too much dependent on smartphones. Most of the time, they use smartphones for social media, and they update about every second of their life on social media.
And the constant pressure of being active on their smartphone and social media can be stressful for teenagers.
Being active on their phone can be stressful, and they can face anxiety and depression.
Chances of Accident
Teenagers use their phones all the time, whether while walking, driving, or while eating. You may agree, how obsessed teenagers are with their phones. They try to be on the phone all the time so that they won’t miss out on anything.
Sometimes, you can hear the occurrence of teenagers on the road due to texting and driving. They can text or use their phone while walking, due to which they can get hit by a vehicle or a pole.
Cyberbullying
Bullying has been easier due to smartphones and the internet. Hence, another serious effect of smartphones among teenagers is cyberbullying. Nowadays, teenagers are moving from physical bullying to cyberbullying, which is more dangerous.
Because of cyberbullying, children try to avoid socializing; they prefer to stay alone and skip school. When teenagers are bullied, they are affected psychologically.
Health Problem
Smartphones have been one of the major reasons for health problems like neck problems, eyesight problems, obesity, and more.
Teenagers are on their phones either playing games or chatting with their friends. Teenagers usually use their phones by turning off their lights, which can affect their eyesight severely.
Nowadays, teenagers are on their phones most of the time and prefer less time for physical exercise. Due to lack of physical exercise, they are facing obesity problems.
Effect of Harmful Content on Teenagers life
We cannot ignore that everyone is obsessed with the internet and their smartphone in this digital age. We cannot just blame our kids for their addiction to their phones when adults are also equally using the internet.
But taking this fact into account, we cannot just ignore teenagers’ addiction; we have to control children’s time on the internet and device usage.
You must be aware that there are many contents on the internet and all the contents are not for children. But during teenage, children may not understand these things quickly, and most of the time, they get under peer pressure or want to explore themselves and get into viewing adult content.
During teenage, children might not acknowledge that adult contents are incredibly harmful to them and their personal growth. Some of the effects of adult content on teenagers life are:
Reduces Focus and Concentration
Being exposed to adult content at teenagers increases the chances of reducing concentration and focus. When teens are exposed to such harmful content once, they want to view such content more and more.
While viewing such content hormone Dopamine is released, which is responsible for mood and pleasure, making kids watch those contents more, resulting in a reduction in concentration and focus.
Reduces Memory Power
Apart from being addictive, matured contents also affect teenagers’ memory power. Adult content can affect children’s memory power in the long term.
Most of the time, kids start to think about everything in the same way and devastate their future in the long run. Likewise, it will affect their studies as they will not focus on their studies, and no matter how hard they try to remember things, they cannot.
Depression
According to research, it was found that out of 582 males, males who watch adult content more than three times are likely to be victims of depression. It was found that 14.6% of the male watches adult content.
One of the big reasons teenagers are depressed when they watch more adult content is that they feel it’s morally wrong. And they will have the dilemma between wanting to watch and knowing that they should not watch.
Anxiety
Mature contents increase anxiety among children; when they view such contents frequently, they cannot remove those images from their minds. Hence, they are unable to maintain a healthy relationship.
They will always have conflicting thoughts in their mind, causing anxiety. Because of anxiety, they will not be focused on their studies, avoiding interaction, trouble sleeping, and more.
Eating Disorder
Watching too much adult content changes the hormones of teenagers. Sometimes due to hormone changes, teenagers’ eating habit changes. Some teenagers can feel hungry all the time and want to eat, while some stop eating food.
Likewise, people in adult content can have well-toned bodies, and teenagers can get heavily influenced by them. And in the course of making bodies that they see in such movies, they stop to eat their food. They can even face problems like anorexia and bulimia.
Tips and Tools to Block Harmful Content from Your Kid’s / Teen’s Device
It has been essential to prevent teenagers from adult content. To prevent and block inappropriate websites from your kid’s devices, here are some tips and tools that you can use:
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Use Router accessory
All the contents that are available on the internet are not for people of all ages. Therefore, you should block such content. To block a website on your kid’s device, one of the easy tasks you can do is add extra devices to your router.
There are many router accessories like Circle Home Plus, Amazon eero Pro mesh network, Gryphon, etc. These devices are easy to use and set up and are readily available on Walmart and Amazon.
The device itself filters contents, views search history, and shows your teenager’s online behavior. These devices also limit kids’ screen time and allow you to stop the internet whenever you want.
The perk of these devices is that once you connect it with your router, it keeps track of devices connected to the router.
Use Parental Control Apps
Another easy solution to block inappropriate websites from your kid’s device is by using parental control apps. Parental control apps are one of the best solutions for all you working parents out there.
Using the parental control app, you do not have to worry about what your kids are doing on their phones or where they are.
Apart from blocking websites, these apps provide you with a wide range of features. Some of the best parental control apps are fenced.ai, Boomerang, Norton Family, Mobicip.
Here how you can install fenced.ai:
- Create a free account on fenced.ai
- Register and download the app.
- Install and provide all the necessary permission.
Block Websites using Browser Extension
You can even use browser extensions like Freedom, WasteNoTime, LeechBlock, Pause, and so on. Browser extensions allow you to block adult websites and all other unproductive websites from your kid’s devices.
Browser extensions allow you to block a domain, protect your data from leakage, close the browser tab after a specified time, redirect websites, and more.
To add a web browser on your kid’s device, all you need to do is add the browser extension on your websites, and with a few clicks, you will be able to block all the inappropriate websites from your kid’s devices.
Ask Your Internet Service Provider to Block Websites
You can even take help from your internet service provider to block websites from kids’ devices. Your internet service provider can view your browsing history, time spent online, and the device from which you are browsing.
One of the best parts of blocking websites through an internet service provider is if you have connected your TV and other devices from the router, then once your ISP blocks the websites, it is applicable on all the devices.
However, to block websites through your ISP, you need to pay some extra fees. Some internet service providers provide you with blocking options when you select your internet plan.
Turn on Google Play Restriction Mode
You can even turn on google play restriction mode that allows you to prevent your kids from downloading any inappropriate content from your kid’s devices.
This feature prohibits teenagers from downloading inappropriate content on mobile phones and laptops. To enable google play restriction mode, you need to follow the following steps:
- Go to the setting of your google play.
- Now click on the “Parental Control” from the User Control Section.
- Now enable the “Parental Control” feature.
- A pop-up box will appear asking to create a PIN.
- Once you create a PIN, you can block the contents.
Enable Search Safe Mode on Google
Google provides you with search safe mode that filters all the adult content when searching for any other content. This feature filters all inappropriate content and is applicable in all web browsers.
To enable Google safe search mode, first of all, you need to login into your Google account and go to your Google homepage. On the bottom right corner, there is the setting option; click on the option. On the first option of Setting, you will see the “Search Setting,” click on the search setting. Now enable SafeSearch, and finally, you can save it.
Use DNS Server for PC
Another way to block inappropriate websites on your kid’s device is through a DNS server. Blocking websites through a DNS server is very simple; all you need to know is your IP address.
You can convert the IP address into a domain name with a DNS server, making it easier for you to remember the website’s name. DNS server filters all the inappropriate contents
Some of the best DNS servers you can use for your PC are CleanBrowsing, Sophos, SafeDNS, OpenDNS, etc.
Use DNS Server for Android
Teenagers can also search inappropriate websites through their smartphones. You can even block websites on your android phone through a DNS server. This feature ensures that kids do not misuse their phones.
To block websites from your android using a DNS server, first of all, you need to go to the Wi-Fi section. You need to select your network in which you want to set DNS; now, you need to select the modified network. After selecting on “show advanced option” from the dropdown list, select static from the IPv4 setting. Finally, enter the DNS server in both DNS1 and DNS2 fields. Now save the changes.
Turn on Feature Provided by Microsoft
Microsoft also provides website blocking features that allow you to block websites within a few steps. This in-built feature is available in Windows 10, and to use this feature, first of all, you need to create your Microsoft account.
Here how you can enable the feature to block the websites:
- From the setting go to account, now you need to add family members.
- Now add a child and their Microsoft account.
- Your child needs to accept an invitation from Microsoft.
- Again, you need to open the settings and click on “Family and other users.”
- Next, you need to navigate to “Manage family settings online.”
- Click on your child’s account.
- From the drop-down menu, select “Content Restriction.”
- Finally, you can turn on the “Block inappropriate option.”
Turn on Feature Provided by Apple
If you are an Apple user, you can use the family control feature that allows you to block all the inappropriate websites from your teenager’s devices.
You can enable this feature within a few clicks. To enable this feature, you need to go to System Preferences. Now navigate to “Parental Control” and click on “Create a New User account with Parental Control” and then click on “Continue.”
You need to enter your username and password then select unlock. Now you need to enter your kid’s information and from the drop-down menu, select “Select a set of default restrictions.” Select “Create User” and then navigate to “Web.” Enable “Try to limit access to adult websites.” Click on “customize” and then blacklist websites. Finally, you can lock the change by clicking on the “Padlock icon.”
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FAQ
What are the ways to block inappropriate websites on your kid’s devices?
Here are some of the ways to block inappropriate websites from your kid’s device:
- Use Parental Control Apps.
- Enable SafeSearch feature of Google
- Ask help from your Internet Service Provider.
- Enable Google Play Restriction mode.
List some of the best parental control apps.
Some of the best parental control apps are fenced.ai, Qustodio, Net Nanny, FamilyTime, etc.
List some of the inappropriate websites you need to block right away.
Here are some of the websites you need to block immediately: Tinder, Omelge.com, Toomics, Roblox, etc.
Conclusion
Summing up, preventing children from viewing adult harmful content on the internet is the number one concern for every parent these days. Since parents are aware of the negative impact of the internet on their kids, parents use every method to prevent their children from such negative aspects.
Here I have mentioned the negative aspect of adult content on teenager’s minds and ways to block such harmful content from their device.
Web developer and SEO specialist with 20+ years of experience in open-source web development, digital marketing, and search engine optimization. He is also the moderator of this blog "RS Web Solutions (RSWEBSOLS)".
