By
February 02, 2021
Remember when getting ready for school meant trips to the office supply store to grab new pencils and a stack of notebooks?
Today, things have changed - kids are expected to BYOD. And no, that doesn’t stand for bringing your own dictionary. Kids are expected to bring their own device.
While some schools provide devices, other schools expect parents to supply their children with their own. For many families, this means bringing a new device onto the family network at home.
Regular access to a device like a laptop or a tablet is probably going to be a big deal to your kids - but they should also recognise what a big responsibility it is! Need help preparing them?
Here’s how you can get your kids ready for the digital school year both inside and outside the classroom.
Make sure your kids stay connected this school year. Find out what broadband options are available at your home via our Broadband Checker here.
Consider setting up controls
Having access to a device means your kids will have access to the whole worldwide web. If you don’t think they’re quite ready for that, then you might want to set up some parental controls.
School Wifi will likely be protected with filters that block inappropriate websites. However, if you have any concerns you’ll have to ask the school directly. Your home Wifi, on the other hand, will not be automatically set up with those filters, so you may want to consider securing your internet before giving your child their device.
It’s important to set up adult content filters and parental control directly on the device. Kids can get around content by not using the internet at home or school, but instead by using ‘HotSpot’ from another 4G device.
Setting up parental controls: This feature can be accessed in the ‘Settings’ on most devices, however, you may need to check with your device’s manual to find the specific instructions.
Setting up Wifi controls: There are a number of ways you can control your Wifi. Apps like D-Fend from D-Link which allows parents to create user profiles for each family member and guests. However, D-Link does come with a bit of a pricetag (RRP $599.99).
You can also type your router’s network IP address into your web browser and log in to edit the settings there. You can find your IP address by clicking on your the Wifi signal and scrolling to ‘Open Network Preferences’.
Understand device safety
Now it’s time to protect the device itself. Be sure to enable your child’s device location and ‘Find My Lost Device’ in case the laptop gets left on the playground. You have to turn this setting on BEFORE you lose the device, so make sure to turn this on right away.
Tip: Help your kids keep track of their belongings by getting a monogrammed laptop bag! Be sure to include a phone number somewhere in the bag in case someone finds the bag and turns it in.
Plan for the extra device at home
You’re bringing a new device into your home network - that has the potential to reduce your internet speed and max out your data cap. That means upload delays and buffering videos at the expense of a higher monthly bill.
Fortunately, there’s an internet connection that can handle it all - fibre broadband. Fibre broadband gives you dedicated capacity so you have a reliable and consistent experience even when you’re working from home and the kids are doing homework (all while streaming Disney+).
Find out what broadband options are available at your home via our Broadband Checker here.
Once you get your home set up with fibre, make sure you’re on an unlimited data plan so you don’t go over your cap. Kids will use the fibre when they’re at home, but when they leave the house, they’ll start using up the data - an unlimited plan ensures there’s enough room online for everyone. Now your kids are ready to have an A+ school year!
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