Today’s media landscape it monstrous, literally there are terrifying programs that are just not appropriate for children. Luckily, there are more ways than ever before to keep your children safe from questionable material. Get the control that is required to maintain the standards you desire. Now it is possible to manage the programming that is shown on your home televisions without worrying about the types of content your kids are watching alone or with friends in their room. If in the house you are in charge of monitoring the children’s media diet, read on because this article is going to take a look at and compare the parental controls of the major media and content providers on the market.
There are many content providers battling for victory in the mobile and traditional content delivery arena. Your options as a buyer are varied and seemingly more flexible today than in the past when cable companies had a strangle hold. In the past, unless you picked up a satellite dish there was possibly only a single choice in your town. Not any longer, the plans and packages available from content carriers are as plentiful as the screens we watch our favorite shows. Each has a slightly different approach and capabilities nested within their parental control settings.
On DirecTV, subscribers are able to dial in the parameters of their parental controls by remote right on the screen they are watching through the receiver that is present. The company has partnered with Common Sense Media to offer ratings for nearly every program. You can view this information on their website to find out the details of your favorite shows and the ones your kids are watching too. Learn about recommendations and content with violence, language, commercialism or sexual themes as well as determine the hours that your kids can watch. Additionally there are sites such as Saveontvdirect.com that offer sign up packages that help keep the cost down.
Apple TV is basically on or off. You will need to enter your Apple ID passcode often once it is on and this may conflict with settings down the pipeline. Each individual service on the other side of that code might be at a different setting complicating matters quite a bit. Seems tedious but then again you do not have to turn it on and could just rely on the individual service settings.
Recently Hulu launched an update to their features with an extension that includes a Kids Lock button. By clicking this option parents can restrict access on the Hulu network and app to only those programs deemed acceptable for children. This is a really simple addition that creates a clean and definitive line between content. In opposition to this simplicity are Netflix parental control functions. Though they have included a Just for Kids tab on the network it can be unclear to users how and where these settings are taking affect. It seems that controlling the flow of content on a Netflix account can become an arduous process that may require centralized access from a traditional style PC.
How you have your account set up and what kind of devices you are streaming videos onto from their database is a factor. According to this review by Mellisa Tolentino web based services such as those provided by Amazon Instant Video and Google TV can vary widely. She considered Amazon to be a great supporter of parental controls while Google was noted as “the worst service for parental control”. So consider that when making your choices. 
The editorial staff of THE FATHER LIFE can be reached at editor@thefatherlife.com.