Like most modern parents, I do not want to go back in time to a pre-Netflix life. One of the great victories of the modern age is streaming services like Netflix where kids are not subjected and inundated with COMMERCIALS. During the recent winter Olympics, my 7-year-old son, who never sees commercials, quickly memorized every new TV show that was coming out, (“Mom! ‘Good Girls’ and ‘The Voice’ come out the SAME DAY!” and “Diet Coke. Because I Can.” were oft-heard in my house those two weeks) and it made me SO THANKFUL that he does not see commercials on a daily basis. So: Streaming, good. Commercials, bad. But, while streaming is great, it’s true of course, that not EVERY show on Netflix is good for our kids — not even all the KIDS shows. Up to now Netflix parental controls have been a bit lacking…but a recent announcement says positive change is coming!
The change in Netflix parental controls moms and dads have been waiting for
Netflix announced on their website on Monday March 5, 2018 that they will be upping Netflix parental controls by adding a PIN option to block certain shows. Before this update, Netflix parental controls allowed parents to block a certain rating, say TV-14 or MA…but not individual shows. So, while little kids won’t be able to watch “13 Reasons Why” if you have TV-14 blocked, they could still pick ANY show that is rated lower than that, even ones you don’t approve of. (Let’s say, you wanted to block Caillou, for instance, because if you have to listen to that whiny preschooler ONE MORE TIME your ears WILL start bleeding, or you don’t want them watching that tween Disney show that talks about crushes and bra-stuffing.) The Netflix parental controls update adds a fantastic new feature – parents can now protect any show they DON’T want their kids watching win a PIN number. Wanna watch Caillou, kid? TOO BAD! If you don’t know the password, you’re out of luck!
