An Awesome New Partnership: Circle and Common Sense!

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     Two of my favorite things as a parent now have a partnership, and hopefully, that partnership will continue to grow and evolve. Those two things are: Circle and Common Sense Media
     Circle is a $100 hardware box that you set up by just plugging it and connecting it your internet service. Once it's connected, it gives you a boatload of control over the way any internet connected device accesses the internet. You start by putting devices under profiles and setting a filter level, but each profile can also set things lime time limits and bedtimes. It gives you a ton of control over how the internet is used at your house, and it makes it easier to monitor what your kids do on devices. There is even a monthly subscription that allows parents to monitor mobile devices on mobile networks.
     Common Sense Media adds everything you need to teach your kids how to protect themselves and teaches you as a parent what's out there so you can protect them. They have significant resources for digital citizenship and reviews for almost everything a parent would need. They are the one main resources available to bridge parent knowledge to the ever-changing tech world.
     A partnership between the two just makes sense. Circle is the hardware to protect your kids, and Common Sense has the information to make sure those protections are set right. For now, the partnership is mostly just an extra place for Common Sense to push their resources to, but you never know what it could be in the future. Maybe someday Common Sense reviews can be integrated into the circle app to help parents make decisions directly. It could be a great way to have 
both the knowledge and protection to make sure your kids stay safe!