In an effort to make it easier for parents and children to develop a healthy relationship with technology, Google has launched a new website—families.google—that’s filled with educational resources. Additionally, Google also updated Family Link to allow parents to remove time limits for approved apps and launched a new content series with Headspace.
The website is aimed at the parents of the first generation of kids growing up with technology, offering various tools and help for parents looking to chart a technology progression path for their kids. It provides answers to frequently Googled questions from concerned parents, like “How much screen time is too much for my kid?” and “How do I keep my kid safe online.”
To create the website and each of its helpful resources and guides, Google partnered up with organizations like Common Sense Media, Headspace, Family Online Safety Institute, ConnectSafely, PBS KIDS, and Sesame Workshop. The site also features tips on managing online safety and digital wellbeing, fun online activities for families, classroom tools, and helpful information for using parental controls while online.
Google’s latest Family Link update also added some much-requested functionality, like the ability to designate apps you approved as “always allowed” instead of only focusing on strict time limits for apps. This way, your child can continue to use apps they need to use, like for remote learning, even when the time limit is up without it counting against their daily screen time limit.
The update also brings additional details to daily, weekly, and monthly usage reports. You’ll see a more precise overview of how your kid spends time in each app, along with what portion of that time was spent in child-friendly apps you designate as “always allowed.”
The Family Link Android app now features teacher-recommended apps pulled from a catalog of thousands of approved apps safe for kids 13 and under in the United States. Google also made it easy for parents to adjust parental controls and set screen time limits directly on their child’s device.
Lastly, in a collaboration with Headspace, Google created content that will help families practice wellbeing and mindfulness, even when they aren’t online. Over the next few weeks, kids and parents will be able to view new episodes of the new Headspace Breathers series on YouTube and YouTube Kids. The first episode, “Balancing Your Child’s Emotions” is up now.