You hand your kid an iPad. You set a passcode. Maybe you turn on Screen Time. You feel pretty good about it. But if you didn’t do the five things below, your child has more access than you think — and some of those gaps can’t be fixed after the fact.

1. Set a SEPARATE Screen Time passcode. This is the number one mistake parents make. If your Screen Time passcode is the same as the device passcode, your child can change their own Screen Time settings. Go to Settings → Screen Time → Use Screen Time Passcode and set a 4-digit code that is DIFFERENT from the device unlock code. If your child already knows the device passcode, change it first, then set a new Screen Time passcode.

2. Enable Content & Privacy Restrictions. Inside Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions, turn this ON. Then configure: iTunes & App Store Purchases → set to ‘Don’t Allow’ for Installing Apps (or require approval). Content Restrictions → set web content to ‘Limit Adult Websites’ or ‘Allowed Websites Only.’ Set Music, Podcasts & News to ‘Clean.’ Set Movies, TV, and Apps to age-appropriate ratings.

3. Turn on Ask to Buy. If your child is part of your Apple Family Sharing group, enable Ask to Buy for their account. Every app download, in-app purchase, and content acquisition requires your approval before it goes through. This applies across App Store, iTunes, and Apple Books. Go to Settings → Family → [child’s name] → Ask to Buy.

4. Restrict Siri web search. Most parents don’t realize Siri can search the web and return unfiltered results — even when Safari has content restrictions. Go to Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions → Content Restrictions → Siri → turn off ‘Web Search Content’ and ‘Explicit Language.’ Without this step, your content filtering has a backdoor.

5. Disable the ability to delete apps. Kids are smart. If they figure out which app is monitoring or restricting them, their first move is to delete it. Go to Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions → iTunes & App Store Purchases → Deleting Apps → set to ‘Don’t Allow.’ This prevents them from removing parental control apps, MDM profiles, or any app you’ve installed for monitoring.

Bonus: Set Downtime and App Limits. Downtime creates a schedule where only apps you specifically allow are available — great for bedtime and homework hours. App Limits let you set daily time caps on categories (Social, Games, Entertainment) or specific apps. Both are in Settings → Screen Time.

This entire setup takes about 3 minutes if you know where to look. Most parents don’t — which is why 82% of families with managed devices still have significant gaps in their controls. Do this before you hand over the device, not after your child has already figured out the workarounds.