Comparison of Parental Controls for Cell Phones: Keep Your Kids Safe and Save Money

Here at iMoneyCoach we like to help you save money. It’s just something we do in addition to helping people learn how to manage their finances. And relationships are important to us too, especially when it comes to our kids. So today we’d like to share/compare plans for cell phones where you can apply parental controls to keep your kids safe (and keep your bill down!).

Verizon – has an extensive Usage Control available for $4.99 per month per line. You can control how long your child can spend talking or browsing, how many texts can be sent or received and what types of purchases can be made via the phone. You can build lists of both trusted and blocked contacts and can even set times of the day when calling, messaging, and browsing are allowed (trusted contacts can always get through, so if you, the parent, need to call your child during that restricted time you can). Verizon also offers Family Locator for $9.99/month for the whole family, lets you see where each family member is at any time, can set a pre-agreed range and Family Locator will alert you if your child’s phone leaves that area. As an added bonus Verizon offers a free Content Filter so that you can have more control and choose the age-appropriate content your child might see.

Sprint Mobile Controls allows you to set phone usage limits, see who your child is texting with and when as well as what programs they are downloading, and set up an authorized list of contacts. You can also set alerts to inform you of potential problems with phone behavior. Mobile Controls is $4.99 per month per phone, and you must have an Android phone to run it. Another program, Sprint Guardian allows phone use restriction and offers both the Family Locator and Sprint’s Drive First to prevent texting (and any other non-emergency phone use) while driving.  The Family Safety Bundle in the Sprint Guardian is $9.99 per month. You can also purchase the Lookout Mobile Security program, which allows you to back up data and protect your family’s phones from harmful web links, malware, and spyware. This costs $4.99 per month or $49.99 for a year-long commitment.

AT&T offers Smart Controls that allow you to limit browsing and data usage, specify times when browsing is allowed, block a list of up to 30 numbers, and limit texting and purchases. Unfortunately, with this plan you cannot specify minute usage or text messaging limits. And unless a phone number is on the “blocked” list, all incoming calls and messages are allowed even during “restricted” times. The program does not work on 4G phones, and if the user of a smartphone, iPad, or tablet is in Wifi mode, the data usage limits do not apply. This plan is $4.99 per month per line. If you have AT&T you may find it of some value, although it does not provide much true security for your child.

T-Mobile – offers Family Features including free message blocking and Web Guard to block certain websites and text, picture, IM and email. Although the service is free it is not very comprehensive. T-Mobile includes tips on how to teach your child phone safety, putting the responsibility in your hands, so you would have to decide whether your child would be protected enough by learning these phone safety tips or if you should go with another carrier to provide more safety.

Kajeet is a service provider that is aimed at providing parental controls as part of each of their contract-free plans. It is $0.99 per locate to locate your child’s phone, but that may be a better option if it is not something you are going to use often enough to warrant the $9.99 fee on some of the plans mentioned above.

There are also programs out there that you do not have to get through your phone carrier to provide some safety:

• TxtWatcher is a free program that allows you to silently record and see your child’s text. It also helps you make sense of secret text codes (like (B) = Beer) and set up alerts for inappropriate content.
• MobShield for smartphones is $49.99 and offers an incredible list of safety features including the message and usage blocking described in the programs above plus a panic button security code that sends a text message to other family members in case of an emergency.
• Kytephone is a free app for Android phones that is kid-friendly, allows you to determine their location, and control who they talk to and what games they play.

Each of the programs we have mentioned offers its own benefits. Choose what is most important to your family and what offers the type of protection you want. Remember that some of these programs can be worked around (it is possible to circumvent data usage limits by your phone provider on the smartphones by using Wifi). Be sure to talk with your child about proper phone usage and your expectations. And share with them that having a phone is a privilege, not a right. You are the parent, and you get the final word on what phone they are allowed to have and what activity would lead to that phone being taken away. We hope that this guide offers some help as you make decisions to keep your family safe!

And if you use any programs not listed here and want to share with other parents, please let us know!

Tags: kids, parents, safety, save money