Norton Family Premier is free for 6 months instead of a 30-day trial

TL;DR: Norton is offering six months of its parental control software, Norton Family Premier, for free — a huge jump from its regular 30-day trial and a total savings of $249.95.

Parents were worried about screen time before schools were closed and kids were home at all times. Now, typing “screen time statistics” into Google is immediately autofilled by “during quarantine.” 

The New York Times is advising to not freak out about screen time, and it’s true that the studies linking screen time and cognitive development aren’t very reliable. But there are reasons you still may want to manage your kid’s online activity: Minecraft may be distracting them from remote school work, or maybe you’d just feel more comfortable about this increase in screen time if you knew that your child wasn’t landing on any inappropriate sites. 

Through May 31, you can try Norton Family Premier, the parental control software from the security buffs at Norton, for free for six months. That’s a massive test period compared to the usual 30-day free trial, and a total savings of $249.95 ($49.99 per month, times five free months).

Use the menu of 40 web filtering categories (compared to 14 or 15 with competing software) to decide which themes you’d like Norton to block. These range anywhere from sites themed around drugs and explicit content to file sharing and online chat, which comes in handy when kids use way more random messaging apps than adults even know exist. Google searches, Youtube watch history, and screen time limits are also in your hands.

Opting to send a warning instead of immediately blocking an explicit site can give your child a bit more autonomy with their cybersecurity habits. If an important website (like one to share documents for school) is accidentally blocked, you can reverse the setting directly from the notification.

PCs, Androids, and iOS devices like iPads and iPhones are all good to go, but Norton can’t be downloaded on Mac desktops and laptops. The most specific results will come when using Norton’s browser rather than Safari or Chrome.