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I'm never sure how people are going to respond to these posts. On the one hand, I'm being super candid about how hard it can be to parent in the digital age, but on the other hand it feels like I'm telling people that I have kids who don't listen. (read more)

Both are true. It is hard to parent in this day and age. It's a new world, no one else has done it, and anything the "experts" say about it is simply conjecture.  (Barring things they can scientifically evaluate, of course)

You don't want your kids on devices all day long, but will it really harm them? Are we talking "potential for health problems later on", or are we talking "they'll be affected like I was affected by plopping my butt down in front of my Nintendo 64 for hours on end"?

You're reading this because you're struggling with the device/life/chores/whatever balance. While my struggle might be not quite the same, in the end, I needed a better way to regulate what my kids were doing online.

If this is you, keep reading, I'm pretty sure I can help. Oh, and before you go further, please know that I am not affiliated with OurPact. None of their links will give me commission, free months, etc. I'm only telling you about it because I do believe it provides a valuable service.

I'm going to put this at the top of the post because it's the most important feature in my household. I like my 11 year to have a phone, I like being able to reach him whenever I want. That doesn't mean I want him playing games and wasting time on it just because he has it with him.

​So, in the spirit of making your child's phone "just a phone", this is one way OurPact has become an invaluable service.

Last year, I downloaded an app called OurPact. My kids were spending a lot of time on their devices, and while I could have just taken them away, it wasn't always convenient.

Yes, it's true, I parent based on convenience. Right or wrong, I want it to be as easy as possible. That means I don't necessarily want to go get their devices and hide them in my room at bed time. I don't want to answer, "Why?" for fifteen minutes when I tell them they need to clean their rooms. 

Like I said, I am aware there is a different route for the same goal, but this is the route I found to be easiest and most effective for direct control of tablets and phones, both Android and iPhone.

As a side note - If you're looking for something that allows you to shut off internet to all devices (or only some) while in your home on WiFi, read my post about my Google Wifi Router Review.

OurPact is touted as a parental control app & family locator. When I first started using it, there was much less capability than there is now, but still, it was fantastic. 

There are three different levels of membership, and of course you get different capabilities with each one. For a long time I used the FREE version without complaint. I just liked it so much that I decided to bump to the $6.99 per month version. But before I get ahead of myself, let's talk about what comes in the FREE version:

SET SCREEN TIME SCHEDULE - Let's say you want your child to stop using their device (this free version is limited to only one device) between the hours of 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. You're able to go into the app (which you control from your phone/computer/tablet) and set a schedule for them. Their device will turn off at 9 p.m., remove all app icons from the device including the internet, and will stay off until 8 a.m. the next day.  You can make this recur daily, or set it for only certain days, leaving their weekends open, etc. 

With the FREE version, you can only set one of these schedules.

MANUAL BLOCK AND GRANT - OurPact will show you a list of every app your child has on their device. The free version will let you go in and block up to five of those apps. If you're giving them screen time, but would rather they not play BlocksWorld or Roblox the entire time, you can just block the app. They can still play the other apps, but will not even see the icon for the one you've blocked.

You can also grant permission (unlimited). So, let's say you want them to only play a certain app (maybe a math app). You just go in and check the box next to the app. This works great if you've got their device on a schedule, but you decide to treat them with a little extra time on one certain game, etc. You don't have to unlock the entire bank of apps, just that one, or as many as you like.

Remember, these are the capabilities on the FREE version, and it is limited to one device.

This is my youngest son's screen on my phone. As you can see, I don't have anything blocked, but I have the option. 

You get exactly what you got in the FREE version, only you are not limited on how many SCHEDULES or BLOCKS/GRANTS you can utilize. Also, you can install the app on ten devices. 

I have the app installed on three devices, an iPad for each of the kids, and my oldest's iPhone. 

If you have a big family, you might need ten devices. Or maybe you've got a high end, in home daycare where all the kids have their own tablet. 

Whatever the reason, you have the option of ten, if you need them.

I don't really use the BLOCKS/GRANTS at all, but being able to make multiple SCHEDULES is something that has really come in handy.

Here, again this is my youngest's schedule set up:

No matter where we are, as long as we're both hooked up to WiFI, his tablet turns off at 10 p.m. and doesn't come on again until 7 a.m.

You can't imagine how handy this is when he goes and spends the night at the grandparents and thinks he's going to get away with being on his iPad all night long.

I don't even have to think about it. Like that, "set it and forget it" infomercial from so many years ago.

Literally, set it and forget it. 

Likewise, if they've been giving me trouble about doing their schoolwork, I just turn on the other schedule. This one means it goes off at 10 p.m. and doesn't come back on until 2 p.m. the next day, after school work is done.

You can't see it in the picture, but I also have a schedule that turns off the device at 5 p.m. and doesn't turn it back on until 8 p.m. Plenty of time to have the kids clean up, eat dinner, shower, brush their teeth, and spend time with the family before I usher them off to their own rooms. 

All of this is included in the PLUS option, again $1.99 a month.

I switched to Premium a few months ago when I realized my oldest son was going to start asking me on a regular basis for social media.

To each his or her own, but I'm not on board with social media for the kids. If they want it when they move out, I've got no say, but as long as they're living with me and are not yet adults, social media is out.

I told him this, but let's be honest, he's 11, there's a CHANCE he might try to sneak it by me, ya know?

​No big deal. OurPact has a feature for that. 

Any website I don't want him on I just add to the block list. These are sites that will never open on his device, ever. If I think of more I want to add later on, I just go to the app in my phone and type it in.

It's just that simple, and like I've said quite a few times in this post so far, it's ALL done from MY PHONE. 

I don't need to have their device, I don't need to fight with them about it. I just do my thing in the app, their device responds accordingly, and while they do not love it, the fights over digital stuff have pretty much dropped to zero.

The PREMIUM version also lets me know when my kids have downloaded ANY new app.

​Now, I have their devices password protected, and they do NOT know the passwords, so this should never be an issue. But if there's one thing I've learned as a parent, it's "never say never".

OurPact lets me know when a new app has been added to the device. It shows me the icon, the name of the app, and tells me when it was added.

One last thing I really enjoy on the PREMIUM version is the SCREEN TIME allowance. 

Let's say you have your child's device on between the hours of 3 p.m. and 9 p.m., but you don't want them on it for more than three hours all day. That's simple! You just go into the screen time allotment, tell it how many hours per day they're allowed on the device, and which days of the week you want it enforced. 

​Done.

Those are the main things I use on the PREMIUM version, but it offers a lot more, some of which might interest you, so I'll put them here, just scroll through the gallery:

OurPact offers a lot of value, especially if you only need it for one child and one device.

That said, when I was deciding between OurPact Plus vs Premium, even at $6.99 a month, I believe the control, ease of use, and security I feel at knowing I'm doing my best to set parameters for their digital usage is well worth the money.

If you've been looking for something like this, I don't think you'll be disappointed with OurPact.

Ty