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Son is overriding my screen time limits

What is the point of having a screen time function on my iPhone to set time limits on my sons devices if he can override them?? It is ineffective. Can this be fixed?

iPhone 11, iOS 16

Posted on Apr 29, 2023 3:19 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 29, 2023 3:27 PM

A few questions:


Did you setup your Son’s AppleID as a “child” - with an accurate birthdate - within your family with you as the organizer ?


Create an Apple ID for your child - Apple Support


When setting-up Screentime on your son’s iPhone, did you select “setup a child’s phone” and use YOUR AppleID credentials?


Use parental controls on your child's iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support





4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 29, 2023 3:27 PM in response to Screamer63

A few questions:


Did you setup your Son’s AppleID as a “child” - with an accurate birthdate - within your family with you as the organizer ?


Create an Apple ID for your child - Apple Support


When setting-up Screentime on your son’s iPhone, did you select “setup a child’s phone” and use YOUR AppleID credentials?


Use parental controls on your child's iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support





Apr 29, 2023 3:29 PM in response to Screamer63

Without knowing how your son is defeating the Screen Time restrictions there is no logical answer to your question.


Taking a guess, please see Apple's guidance in Set up Screen Time for a family member on iPhone - Apple Support and use this as a checklist for anything you overlooked.


The most obvious route your son could be using is he guessed your password and is able to evade your restrictions. If not that, do you have any idea how he is evading?

.

Apr 29, 2023 5:12 PM in response to Screamer63

Seeing the status change more or less confirms your son is defeating your restrictions by a deliberate action (rather than a bug, like the restriction remains but does not work).


The relevant steps are in the guides we have linked earlier in the thread. Key points are:

  • Your son should have his OWN PERSONAL Apple ID, not multiple humans sharing a single ID.
  • Ensure all devices are fully updated to latest software versions. The iOS version (valid as I write this) is 16.4.1 for all current iPhones. Older phones (I think only iPhone 7 and earlier) are unable to upgrade to v16 and may be using an older software.
  • Note the guidance about passwords and passcodes in the Screen time support documents. Parents should be the only ones who know the passcode. If your son knows the passcode which protects Screen Time then all bets are off.


We have to be realistic about the ingenuity of the younger generations, and they have a huge information sharing network at school. If a bug is found then every child will hear about it weeks before the first parent gets to know. The other option if he persists in defying parental authority and the restrictions is that you may need to have That Conversation about responsibility and the reasons why you have set the Screen Time restrictions. If that doesn't produce improvements the next conversation may need to extend his vocabulary to include words like "sanctions", "grounded", "confiscated".

Son is overriding my screen time limits

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