Keeping your kids safe online may seem scary, but it’s easy with Mac. Learn how to set up parental controls for your child’s Mac in macOS Sequoia.

Raising children today can be difficult, especially when you realize you have to protect them online as much as in the real world. After all, you want to make sure your child is familiar with the technology they will need to use in school, for future jobs, and to participate in society.

However, it’s no secret that the Internet is often hostile and dangerous, especially for children.

From cyberbullying and explicit content to online predators and privacy invasions, parents have many reasons to be concerned. This becomes even more evident when children are given their own devices and have access to them without guardian supervision.

The importance of protecting children online goes beyond immediate concerns. Exposure to harmful content or interactions can have lasting emotional and psychological effects. Compromised personal information could lead to identity theft, which can create a whole host of problems in the long run.

That’s why parents and guardians need to understand potential threats and take proactive steps to keep them safe.

Like the iPhone and iPadmacOS has built-in parental controls to keep children safe online. We’ll show you how to find them and what each one does.

It’s worth noting that there aren’t as many parental controls on macOS like on iOS or iPadOS. However, there are still important safety options that should be used if you have a child with their own Mac.

Before you begin, make sure the Mac in question is updated to the latest version of macOS.

How to set screen time limits on macOS Sequoia

For many parents, monitoring their child’s screen time can seem daunting. Fortunately, Apple offers a simple solution for this: screen time limits. To set limits, you will need to enable the feature by following the steps below.

1. Click on the Apple Menu
2. Click System Settings
3. In the sidebar, click Screen time
4. Enable Screen time

Setting up a downtime schedule

Once enabled, you have several options for setting limits, all under the Limit Usage section of the Screen Time section. Here’s what each section covers:

• Downtime: Allows you to set a schedule of time away from screens for your child
• Application limitations: Allows you to set time limits for specific apps or app categories, such as social media or gaming apps.
• Always allowed: These apps are always allowed, regardless of other time limits. You can’t turn off the phone, but you can set restrictions on who can be contacted.
• Screen distance: Although this section is shown here, it is only usable on devices with Face ID. Enabling this option will set the limit for an eligible number iPhone or iPad connected to the account and will not affect macOS

How to set content and privacy restrictions on macOS Sequoia

You can go further and define the types of content children can access in Content & Privacy restrictions. To enable this feature, you will need to:

1. Click on the Apple Menu
2. Click System Settings
3. In the sidebar, click Screen time
4. Click Content and privacy

From here you can change a number of settings. Here’s what you can find in each category.

Setting limits on the types of content a child can see

App Store, Media, Web and Games

This section is where you’ll find the basic controls that enable the type of interactions your kids can have in Game Center. You can enable or disable the ability to add friends, private messaging and multiplayer mode.

There are also two options for Music & TV: allow music profiles and allow shared music and TV libraries.

This is also where you can filter explicit content on the web.

Intelligence and Siri

Apple has officially entered the AI ​​race, which means you’re seeing more Apple Intelligence features deployed with each update. Given that machine learning content is still in its infancy, it’s understandable that you wouldn’t want to give a kid unlimited access to everything they spit out.

This section lets you define which types of Apple Intelligence your child can see and which ones they can’t. This is also where you can enable or disable Siri features, such as explicit language permissions or web content in Siri.

Store Restrictions

This section differs a bit from its iOS counterpart. This is where you’ll set age restrictions for movies, TV shows, and apps. You can also turn off explicit music, podcasts, books, and news here.

The remaining options focus on iOS permissions. From here, you can change an account’s ability to install, remove, or make in-app purchases, although it’s best to configure these restrictions on the iPad or iPhone in question.

Application and feature restrictions

In this section, you can disable three macOS-specific features, including Store and SharePlay.

The rest of the options in this section are geared towards the iOS device associated with the account in question. Again, these are best handled on iOS rather than via macOS.

Preference Restrictions

All Preference Restrictions categories only affect iOS and will not affect macOS. This includes allowing password and account changes, cellular data changes, TV provider changes, and a few others.

Talk to your child

Protecting children online isn’t just about monitoring their activities: it’s also about giving them the tools and knowledge they need to make safe, informed choices.

All the tools in the world won’t help you if you don’t engage in honest – and realistically uncomfortable – conversations with your children. Although this topic can be difficult to broach, it is essential to teach children to look after their well-being, and you will be glad you did.

If you don’t know where to start, we suggest by visiting CommonSense.org. This safety-focused website provides a great starting point for teachers, parents and children, all helpfully sorted by age group.

Image credit: NadineDoerle | Pixabay

For younger children, CommonSense.org strives to teach children the basics of internet safety. Elementary-age children can expect to learn lessons about how to use the Internet safely. This involves teaching them what information can be shared securely online, the importance of strong passwords, and how to behave both responsibly and kindly in online spaces.

For middle school students, classes begin to cover topics like identifying predators, learning to avoid scams, clickbait and malware, and the risks of sexting.

High school students can expect topics that cover topics that will keep them safe well into adulthood. This is where teens will learn how sausage is made, so to speak.

These lessons cover understanding data tracking and brokering, the risks of using social media, and even ask teens to consider whether or not the government should have open access to their personal data.

We suggest contacting your child’s school to find out if and what digital safety lessons students can access. If there isn’t one, you may want to consider partnering with other parents to formally request one.

Image credit: janeb13 | Pixabay

And, of course, you need to make a serious effort to keep the lines of communication open. It’s important not to make a child afraid to talk to you about problems they’re having online. It’s better to detect a problem early rather than letting it get worse.

Many of us who grew up using the internet in the early and mid-2000s have personal experience with online predators or know someone who has. And these numbers are only increasing as children are exposed to online gaming and social media.

This is why it is essential, if you suspect that your child is in a dangerous situation, to make it clear to them that the situation is not their fault. Instead, let it be known that the child can speak freely and without fear of punishment.

Finally, make sure you set a good example for your children. Take time to do activities together away from screens. Encourage children to connect with their peers and foster age-appropriate hobbies that meet their interests.