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How to keep your kids safe on Netflix

Cape Town - As a parent, I’m going to be very real with you, the TV is one of my handy helpers (that’s a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse reference for all you non-parents). Life with two kids under 5 can be frantic especially in the evenings.

But you can’t just plonk your kids in front of YouTube and hope for the best because the YouTube rabbit hole can be horrifying. At best, your kids just end up watching an hour of someone opening surprise eggs. At worst, Spider-Man is pushing Lightning McQueen off a building to the tune of incy-wincy spider. You just never know with YouTube.

So Netflix is one of my go-to services for my kids. But as I said, they’re young and there are still some programmes I prefer that they don’t watch. Netflix has made it really easy for parents to be certain their kids are watching quality and age-appropriate programming.

CREATE PROFILES FOR EACH OF YOUR KIDS

You can create up to 5 profiles on your Netflix account so if you have kids of different ages, you can tailor their programming. When you set up a profile, you indicate that it is a Kid’s Profile and then you’ll be able to choose if it’s for “Little Kids Only” or for “Older Kids and Below”. The Little Kids Only option lists absolutely no PG rated content.

PARENTAL CONTROLS

Another nifty feature is the Parental Controls that can only be accessed with your account password. You’ll then get to set a PIN which can be used to restrict the playback of certain titles or programmes of a certain age restriction across all profiles.

Here’s how:
1. Click your name on the top right, then click "Your Account".
2. In "Settings", click "Parental Controls".
3. Enter your account password.
4. Now you can set a four digit PIN and then set the level of protection across profiles as well as for particular shows.

Now you can be assured that your kids are not only watching entertaining, quality content but that they’re also not stumbling onto things that are inappropriate for their gentle, spongy minds.

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