How do I stop my child watching porn on their phone?

Skie for Parents · Updated

Short answer

Combine a filter the child cannot turn off with fewer ways to reach the open web. Skie blocks adult sites at the DNS level, forces SafeSearch, blocks other browsers and VPNs, and lets you hide the Play Store. Then talk to your child, because no filter replaces that.

Most children meet adult content by accident first, through a search, a link in a chat or a video suggestion. A filter reduces that, and it helps most when it cannot be removed.

On Skie, adult sites are blocked by a filtering DNS locked on the device, so they fail to load on home Wi-Fi, school Wi-Fi or mobile data. Chrome has SafeSearch and YouTube restricted mode forced on. Incognito is blocked. Other browsers, VPN apps and proxy apps are blocked, so a child cannot move to a browser without the filter.

Reduce the doors in the apps too. A social app or a video app has its own feed, which a DNS filter does not cover. If you choose not to allow them, they are not there. Hide the Play Store so new apps do not arrive without you.

Skie does not read your child's messages or see what they search for, so it cannot tell you what they tried. A blocked site simply fails to load.

The other half is talking. Choose a calm moment, say that the internet has things that are not meant for children, and that if they see something upsetting they can tell you and will not be in trouble. A child who can tell you is safer than one who is hiding.

If you find your child has seen something, avoid punishing the device. Check the dashboard compliance score, and talk.