Fifteen. That’s the number of devices our family of four has connected to the internet at any given time. It sounds excessive, but it’s our reality. Because of that reality, we understand the importance of online safety quite well.
(I was compensated for my time writing this post; see disclosure for details.)
There’s not a day that goes by where we don’t use the internet for something in our home. My husband and I use the internet to connect to friends, family, and colleagues through social media and email. We also rely on the internet for work.
I use an online homeschool planner, I find lesson ideas, and I shop for homeschool curriculum online. My kids use the internet for learning apps and research. We also rely on it for streaming documentaries and movies to supplement and reinforce our homeschool lessons.
We use the internet to research answers to the fifty questions that pop up throughout a typical day. I use the internet for recipes and meal planning. We also tithe and pay our bills online.
If that’s not enough, we use the internet to stream music, TV, podcasts, and sermons all. day. long. We even use it for daily Bible reading, library requests, and to access e-Books.
We spend all of that time online and our kids don’t even have cell phones yet. There’s no denying that we’re a connected family.
The Need for Online Safety
Your family’s internet usage may look different from ours, but it’s probably not a dramatic difference. If you have children or teenagers connected to the internet in any way, you understand the concerns about online safety.
Let’s face it, the digital age brings many benefits to our lives, but it comes with exposure and vulnerability to content we would never willingly view ourselves, much less invite our children to view.
In a perfect world, my ten year-old son could use an old phone to look up geography facts without any risk of seeing something inappropriate.
I’d also be able to leave the room while my four year-old daughter plays educational games on a laptop.
In a perfect world, I’d be able to let them fully embrace this technology without compromising their innocence.
But it’s not a perfect world and we as parents don’t have the option to bury our heads in the sand and hope our good kids don’t get into trouble on the internet.
Even if our kids aren’t seeking the bad on the internet, the bad can find them. We are a connected culture and the importance of online safety cannot be ignored.
Gryphon Online Safety:
A Safer Internet for Connected Families
If you’re like us, you understand the need for online safety as a connected family, but don’t always know what to do about it. That’s where Gryphon Online Safety comes in.
Sure, there are existing parental control tools available to help with online safety. The problem is that those tools are often complicated to use. Some even come with expensive annual subscriptions.
Thankfully, Gryphon is different.
Gryphon is a powerful yet convenient approach to online safety. By combining a high-performance WiFi router and a simple-to-use smartphone app, parents can manage a connected household from anywhere.
Want to restrict internet access during bedtime or homeschool lessons? No problem. Want to block websites with unfamiliar or negative content? Also not a problem.
Through the WiFi router and app combination, parents can grant access to specific websites and restrict internet access during certain times of the day. Brilliant, huh?
Not sure what to sites to allow and which ones to deny? No worries, even the most well-meaning parents aren’t familiar with every website out there. Through Gryphon’s social collaboration tool, parents can recommend and rate specific websites. That makes it easier for all of us to know what’s safe and what’s not.
It also allows parents to monitor connected home devices like thermostats or cameras to prevent hacking. The best part is that all of this happens through the swipe of a finger on your smartphone.
What’s more is that all security features are built directly within the router itself, eliminating the need to install additional apps on your connected devices. Setting up the Gryphon router takes just three steps and a simple tap with the Gryphon app.
Connect with Gryphon Online Safety
You can learn more about Gryphon’s mission and support the Gryphon Kickstarter campaign by visiting the Gryphon website. You can also connect on social media through Facebook and Twitter to keep up with the campaign and share Gryphon’s mission with your friends and family.