Managing Screen Time with OurPact App – A Guest Post
This is a guest post on behalf of OurPact. This post does not reflect the opinions of the owner of Bullock’s Buzz.
I have a confession to make.
Until recently, I was living with my head in the clouds. I have always thought I’m a pretty all-star parent, and that I was running a tight ship, but I was wrong. There was one thing that I was slipping under the radar:
My kids device addiction.
I’ve always been one to do things ‘by the book’ which is maybe why I missed the mark on this one. After all, there’s no parenting manual for kids and devices. It started with a cranky kid… Every morning, my elementary-aged son was hard to wake up, and would live out his day in a haze. Then, the arguments started.
Every time I asked him to turn his device off, he would fight back. And I am not talking about asking just once or twice. A behavior that was totally out of character.
Of course, I had rules around screens… But I was making a big mistake by not making my boundaries firm enough, and standing by my word.
So this is the parenting mistake you don’t want to make: don’t be fooled into thinking that having devices in the bedroom is not going to impact your child’s sleep, or that when your kid asks for ‘ten more minutes’ saying anything other than a firm ‘no’ is going to lead anywhere good. It’s not.
Here’s how I got it all back on track.
I started using a unique parental control app called OurPact to remotely manage my son’s device use. It’s a completely free app, and it takes no longer than a few minutes to set up.
The OurPact app works like this: after pairing your kid’s devices to your parent account, you are then able to remotely manage their access to the internet and apps on their device, at any time and from anywhere.
If you want screen time to end, you can ask them once or twice and then follow up on your request with a manual block. The app offers two primary features: at-a-touch management, and automated schedules.
On-Demand Blocking
Let’s say you just finished making dinner and you want your kid to set Minecraft aside so you can enjoy a nice family meal. You politely ask your kid to lock their tablet and come to the table, and get a grunt or ‘just a few more minutes’ in reply. You give them a few more minutes, ask again, and get the same response.
Instead of letting this lead to an argument, all you have to do is take out OurPact, and select Manual Block, then pick the amount of time you want the device to lock up for.
Screen Time Schedules
There was a moment when I was shocked into reality, and forced to realize how big of a problem my kid’s screen time had become. It was well past bedtime, and as I was walking up to the bedroom, I heard something from my son’s room.
When I went in, there was my 9-year-old – at almost 3 am on a school night – playing on his tablet. I had tucked him in hours before.
With OurPact, you can set up automated schedules that kick in and end at specified times. It’s hassle-free, reliable, and a great way to encourage healthy habits with minimal effort.
Now, every night my son’s device turns off at a specific time, and I don’t have to worry about him losing sleep while in class the next day.
OurPact has a mobile iOS parent app, as well as a handy web app (which is great for parents on non-iOS devices, or managing from a computer). Parents can use the app to manage kids on iOS or Android mobile devices.
Since I started using it, screen time has become better. My son and I had a serious chat about my rules and expectations around screen time, and I then set up the app to hold us accountable to those rules.
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No
Saturday 29th of July 2023
All the pop-ups and ad crap on your mobile page us terrible.
Alaina Bullock
Sunday 30th of July 2023
Hi, I am sorry! I certainly do not want ads effecting my users experiences. Those ads are the only way us bloggers can make money and since this is my only income, I really need to have them active. However, there should only be one pop-up and that is for my email sign up which should only come up one time and should be easily closed. The ads should be at a minimum as I have it set to the lowest amount possible. Would you mind helping me out by letting me know exactly what popups you are seeing please? And also what the ads are doing so I can get with my ad agency to correct any issues. Your help would be MUCH appreciated!
Gemma Lynden-Bell
Friday 23rd of June 2023
I am a 13 year old girl, I got this app from the ages of 9-10 and this has almost made me kms (kill my self). This has Druid almost all my relationships, the ones with my parents and siblings as well. As it is my personal life I don’t have to tell every detail about why I almost kms but I will say a few reasons and stuff. As I started to get very depressed at the age of 10, I started to cut myself, very roughly to the point it out scar, still doing it at the age of 13 but learning new teachiques, I’ve gotten therapy but non of that can cure anything my parents did. Crying myself to sleep, cutting everywhere like my wrist, arms, shoulders, neck, belly, thighs and more. This app is shit and has ruined my life and mental health, I beg of you parents to not get this for your kid, it’s just going to make it worse…
Alaina Bullock
Monday 26th of June 2023
Thank you for sharing your story and thoughts Gemma. I can see both sides of it when it comes to apps like this! I really believe it depends on the parents and the situation. It can be a bad thing or a good thing. Please do not ever let anything make you think or feel that you are not worth being here. I hope you are able to talk to someone and you are healing your relationship with your parents and siblings. As a teen I did the same thing (cutting) and tried several times to kms. I can only say that now I am SO happy I did not succeed. It may not seem like it when you are going through it, but I promise you that one day you will be glad that you are still here.
Tyler
Wednesday 15th of September 2021
"Once you do, your relationship with your child will change as much as your child’s device habits." Ahh yes the totally will smh. It will make it worse and the software is complete and utter garbage its a literal dumpster fire of an app the Ourpact Jr software has so many bugs I don't know where to start lol 1st of al if you want to customize your home screen the app is like hell no and if you try to customize your home screen and then it locks and then when it unlocks it will be back to the way it was which sucks and is one of the many problems that this app has. Secondly you need to try to pause your time multiple times and if you don't your time will keep wasting away until it runs out because the Ourpact Jr. app is so unresponsive. Third it also slows your device down significantly because of all the programs/process that are going on in the background where you can't see them. Fourth there is a feature that will periodically take screenshots of your child's device and that right there is a huge invasion of privacy and also the developers have access to those screenshots and they can steal your child's information and many other things and also the screenshots could ruin things like one time I was looking for a present for my fathers birthday and the app took a screenshot of my phone while I was purchasing it and my dad looked at it and it spoiled the surprise so think again about this app I know thats not a big deal but it is invading your child's privacy. Fifth if your child is playing something or watching something it won't even give them a warning that their time is almost up and it is a pain in the ass to keep switching between apps this isn't a big deal but it is still a problem. Sixth this app will create more turmoil than before you had it because lets say your child is talking to their friend about what they did at school today and then all of a sudden their device just locks that would piss anyone off what if you were talking to one of your friends and then your device just locks you wouldn't be too happy would you now? Seventh think about how your child perceives this app because this is already a huge invasion of privacy like I said and they probably won't think too highly of you if you put this on their device because it's just another overprotective parenting thing and things like that are what ruin relationships with parents and their children so respect your child's privacy and their social life and they will respect you do better. I could go on and on about how bad this App is but then this comment will be too long so I would recommend using something like screen time from apple or whatever android has since they come default I dont know about android but it does with apple products so take that into account and they don't invade the privacy of your child like Apple has very strict rules about privacy and online security. So think again about using this app. DO BETTER!!! respect your child and you will be respected back :)
Alaina Bullock
Friday 17th of September 2021
Wow! It sounds like there are a lot of issues (some esp. worrisome like the app taking screenshots) with this that were not there when it first came out. We used the app for several years before removing it (we no longer needed it) so any updates they made I am not aware of (or I would update the post). So I appreciate you taking the time to comment to let others know about your experience. Tyler! That is very disappointing to hear. Hopefully, the developers who made the app will address these problems.
Kit Soto
Friday 3rd of September 2021
This app has absolutely fucked up my life, when my mom and I changed apps to this app made our relationship so tense and it’s basically ruined she moved to another app that wasn’t our pact because of the horrible data coding there. But there’s a problem the app still controls my ipad and because of it neither my mom or I can reset the iPad we are stuck with a useless 2000 dollar iPad. We can’t fix it and now she moved to another app and that has ruined our relationship even more. I hate this apps with an incredible passion and I hope they get destroyed
Sincerely -
A minor
Alaina Bullock
Friday 17th of September 2021
I am sorry to hear that! But thank you for commenting so other readers can hear other people's experiences and thoughts! I would definitely be contacting the developers or taking whatever further steps I could if it ruined my iPad! I understand how these apps can be a very touchy subject, especially when it comes to trust between a parent and their child. Which is why I am glad people are commenting with their experiences and thoughts so everyone can see all sides of the topic. I wish you and your Mom the best, and hopefully you two will be able to relieve the stress from your relationship and work towards having a stronger one.
Palmer
Saturday 6th of June 2020
For me, my experience with Ourpact was much different. I am an 18 year old, a few months away from college. This almost completely ruined my relationship with my parents. Whenever I give a complaint about the quality of the app to my parents, they refuse to do anything to fix it (for example, there was no blocker at night so I would wake up to no screen time left. I told my father and he said “too bad”) This app has ruined my relationship and my image of my parents and I have been counting down the days until college ever since I started using Ourpact again.
Alaina Bullock
Monday 8th of June 2020
Hi Palmer! Thanks for sharing your feelings on this. I love for my readers to see all sides of the products I share about. I am so sorry to hear this. Have you considered writing to the makers of the app and letting them know what happened with you waking up to no screen time left, and other issues you've had with it? I'd think they would need to know this so they can make it better for all involved in using it.