Context · Parental Controls
Google Family Link is the Android and Google version of parental controls. It lets you see activity, set daily time limits, approve app downloads, and manage your child's Google account. It helps, and like every control, it works best paired with a conversation instead of standing in for one.
Why this matters for your kid
Family Link can show you which apps get used, cap the daily time, require your approval before a download, and even show a device location. On a younger kid's first phone or tablet, that’s a reasonable frame to start with.
What your child experiences
The same rules that feel fair at eight can feel like being watched at thirteen, and kids find room around it, a friend's phone, a school Chromebook, a second account, a web browser instead of the app. The control catches some of it, never all of it.
How to actually use it
Use it as a starting tool and plan to loosen it as they earn more room. You aren’t trying to win the cat-and-mouse game, and what you actually want is for them to keep telling you what they run into online, including the stuff a control would never catch.