In case you have children you might have already been forced to deal with the issue of safeguarding them from some inappropriate content or you will after a rude awakening when one of them comes across something which could potentially take their innocence in a premature way. As parents we have to get accustomed to dealing with parent control settings on both our internet connections as well as our cable TV subscriptions. However, streaming is yet another issue which you might not be as familiar with. These are the steaming providers that have already been researched in-depth so that their "family friendly" rating could be determined.
Probably the best parental control available are the parents themselves in most instances and this article should serve as a good reminder that we always have to stay involved within the lives of our children and monitor as many of their choices as possible. We really have to manage the exposure they receive from unreliable venues such as the internet as well as television and cell phones, and it can always be helpful knowing which trusted services you can subscribe to without worrying.
Note:The majority of consumer electronics that support streaming services are focused on North American consumers. We apologize to our international readers and hope we can take a look at more alternatives in the future.
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Netflix:
This is one of those streaming provides which have decided not to get within the porn business so it's a definite thumbs up for the decision they've made. Also it includes a parental control option. Out here you'll be able to change the parental control settings and then proceed to select the ratings level to filter. It might take about a good 8 hours for the new changes to take effect though. However, this is also a global block to the entire account so if you've decided to indulge within a movie then the 8 hour widow is when your kids are going to have the same access to ratings as you do. There's also the ability to see what people have viewed on the account so that you're able to ask questions about it after.
However, there have also been parents that lit up the message boards of this service in the lookout for some more filter content ability and especially ability in terms of individual devices. There was also the idea to be able to filter out all the content that's within selected ratings unless a pin # was entered. Some films out there that are "Not Rated" are certainly inappropriate for the children.
Another plus to this service is that it has a community feel allowing for users to rate and review the movies found in their library.The family rating of it is good.
Hulu Plus:
When it comes to customizable parental control it doesn't come with it like Netflix does. However, if you'd like to gain access to the mature content on Hulu you'll have to be at least 17 years old and logged into the account which enables that access. This is an account which requires parental oversight as well. However, the more internet savvy children are probably going to be able to get around this and create an account. Also when it comes to family friendliness it's also rated good with the reminder that a parent has to be involved within the viewing choices.
Vudu:
Compared to the ones I previously listed, this provider has two main safeguards which is why we could label it great in terms of family friendliness. Parents are easily able to set limits to what their children are allowed to look into, rent, purchase and play based upon the ratings. There are also some pretty clear instructions on how to set the parental controls on multiple devices.
iTunes:
When it comes to child safety this one has attained some great ratings. Parents will be able to define the content that is being displayed within the iTunes store for their children to see. Also you're able to disable content available in podcasts, the radio, shared libraries or even the iTunes store. In case a user decides to access content which isn't within the allowable directory a pin number will have to be entered. Also because the content is purchased throughout the Itunes store there's an additional layer of security. And if you're an Apple TV owner you ca set controls to it for some of the other services including YouTube and Netflix.
Amazon Instant Video:
In order for you to be able to purchase media via this network you'll first have to create an Amazon account and then link it to a credit card. Also parents will have an entire history of things purchased. This is probably the ultimate parental control, but the problem comes with the Amazon Prime members that are going to have access to an entire streaming library with unlimited streaming. The Amazon forums state that there isn't a solution to block streamed content meaning that it can be inappropriate for children.
Roku:
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