Family Link: That is making young people angry at their parents. How does it work?

Teenagers have renamed it ” the application of the devil “. Let’s talk about Family Link or the app that allows parents to always know where their children are and to have a real control of their actions.

The application, created by Google, is having a lot of chatter in the last few hours due to the revolt by teenagers who see the app as a counter-productive tool capable of compromising family relationships.

Clearly, today’s Web is not always a quiet place, especially for the less experienced. So many social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or even others that can put adolescents at risk through ” tricks ” made ad hoc by malicious people, scammers or even pedophiles. Here is that parents try in some way to stem all this by allowing their children to experience ” online ” but still keeping control of them so as not to have bad surprises.

Family Link: What it is and how it works?

One of the most-used apps in recent months is Family Link, which the Mountain view company has decided to release on its Play Store and which allows one or more devices to be used, properly protected and used by adults, for protect and impose restrictions on children’s devices.

The Google system relies on its operation on the cloud and involves the installation of two apps: the first must be loaded on an adult’s smartphone and the other on the mobile device used by the teenager.

Family Link offers the possibility of ” setting ” a series of controls : determining which content can be downloaded and installed by Google Play, provide explicit authorization for purchases and downloads, block visits to inappropriate sites through the Chrome browser, filter explicit content or harmful in Google searches, deny or allow the use of the Google Assistant, allow or block the use of the various Android apps installed, access the device’s location in real time and even define daily usage times.

A real comfort for parents who in some way can always have access to their child’s smartphone with a simple application. And Family Link has become over time an app hated by teenagers who are flooding the Play Store with negative comments not so much on the operation of the app itself but rather on the end of their ” freedom “.

” I no longer have the freedom, now I am 14 but with this app, it seems to me to be a child of 5 years. This app is the app of the devil, it makes the parents believe that they have an irresponsible child. You can’t do nothing, for example, install apps or UNINSTALL, PARENTS if you want to ruin adolescence for your children, you should know that we are the ones who are not affected. ” This is a comment on the app on the Play Store.

Family Link: parents against children

Someone even claims to be afraid ” to go wrong or walk around because I am immediately called, and I have to give explanations or a video call to show that I am alone “.

Parents’ reviews seem to be anything but negative. The evaluations even reach 4.4 out of 5, and the reviews speak of an app ” very useful to help children in the conscious use of the smartphone ” or ” I am satisfied and happy with this application “. Some clearly recognize the transformation of the child that has become ” unbearable ” since using Family Link.

In short, it is clear that, parents would like to have total control of their children, especially in today’s society. Even the children want to explore and obtain the freedom that somehow was reached by their parents some years before.

The challenge in this case is perhaps to find the correct use of the application that allows parents to have a ” digital ” contact with their children and the same children not to overdo social media and everything that goes with it. Educate on the correct use of the smartphone and the Network: this is the main intent of Google and the Family Link app.