Digital Detox Challenge · Goode Education Foundation

Your kid's phone,
locked and ready.

The Challenge used to mean a kid-safe phone or a flip phone. Now an iPhone or Android is allowed — if it's set up so social media genuinely can't be reached. This is the setup, step by step, for parents who don't consider themselves technical. Budget 30 minutes with both phones in hand.

$1,600 if they start in 7th grade

$1,300 8th grade

$1,000 9th grade

6 steps, in order

0 of 0 done

Good Required

Built-in tools only — Apple Screen Time or Google Family Link. Free, nothing to install. This tier is the bar for staying in the Challenge.

Better Recommended

Adds a filtering layer at the network level, so it keeps working on cellular data and in apps the built-in controls don't reach.

Best Optional

A paid monitoring service on top. Costs money and needs upkeep — worth it for a kid who has already found a way around once.

Build the right kind of account

Nearly every failed setup fails here. If the phone is signed in to an ordinary adult account, the controls you set are suggestions your child can switch off. A supervised child account is what makes everything in steps 2–6 actually stick.

Apple — child account in Family Sharing

Good

Make yourself the Family Organizer, then create or invite the child account.

Settings›your name›Family›Add Member›Create Child Account

If your teen already has their own Apple Account, use Invite People instead and accept from their phone. Either way it has to land inside your family group.

Confirm the birthdate on the account is correct.

Apple applies protections by age. A 14-year-old whose account says 1985 gets adult defaults, and several restrictions below will simply not appear.

Turn on Ask to Buy so nothing installs without your approval.

Settings›your name›Family›your child›Ask to Buy›On

Google — supervised account in Family Link

Good

Install Google Family Link on your phone and create your family group.

Family Link runs on iPhone too — you don't need an Android to supervise one.

On your child's phone, start supervision and sign in with your account when prompted.

Settings›Google›Parental controls›Get started

You'll enter your own Google password on their device once. That's what links the two.

Require your approval for every Play Store download.

Family Link›your child›Controls›Content restrictions›Google Play›Require approval›All content

On a Samsung, sign out of the Samsung account and check the Galaxy Store.

Samsung ships a second app store. Family Link does not police the Galaxy Store. Instagram and TikTok are both available there, and this is the single most common way an "already locked down" Samsung isn't.

Lock the vault

Everything you're about to configure is protected by one passcode. If your child can guess it, watch you type it, or reset it through an email they control, the rest of this page is decorative.

Screen Time passcode & account recovery

Good

Set a Screen Time passcode that is not the phone's unlock code and not yours either.

Settings›Screen Time›your child›Lock Screen Time Settings

Not a birthday, not 1234, not the garage code. Kids watch fingers.

When it asks for a recovery Apple Account, enter your email — never your child's.

This one line decides the whole setup. Recovery pointed at the child's own email lets them reset the passcode themselves in about a minute, and you would never know.

Turn on two-factor authentication for your own Apple Account.

Settings›your name›Sign-In & Security›Two-Factor Authentication

Parent PIN & account security

Good

Set your Family Link parent access code, and don't reuse a code your child has seen.

Family Link›Settings›Parent access code

Turn on 2-Step Verification for your Google account.

Your Google password is now the master key to their phone. Treat it that way.

Turn off Developer options on the child's phone if they're showing.

Settings›System›Developer options›Off

If you don't see that menu at all, good — it's hidden by default and nobody has switched it on.

Apps: remove, then block the door

Deleting Instagram takes ten seconds. Reinstalling it takes eight. The deletion matters far less than closing the store behind it — that's the part that lasts.

Clear the phone, then seal the App Store

Good

Delete every social app currently on the phone.

Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X, Facebook, Threads, BeReal, Discord, Reddit, Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitch, and any messaging app with public feeds. Touch and hold the icon, then Remove App › Delete App.

Block installing, deleting, and buying apps.

Settings›Screen Time›your child›Content & Privacy Restrictions›iTunes & App Store Purchases

Set Installing Apps, Deleting Apps, and In-app Purchases all to Don't Allow. Blocking deleting matters as much as blocking installing — deleting and reinstalling an app is how kids wipe a time limit off it.

Drop the App Store age rating to 12+ or lower.

Content & Privacy Restrictions›Content Restrictions›Apps›12+

Most major social apps are rated 12+ or 17+, so this alone removes them from search results.

Review Allowed Apps and switch off anything you don't want reachable.

Content & Privacy Restrictions›Allowed Apps

Safari, AirDrop, and FaceTime all live here. Leave Phone and Messages on unless you've agreed otherwise with your child.

Clear the phone, then seal every store

Good

Delete every social app, then block the ones that came preinstalled.

Family Link›your child›Controls›Apps›tap an app›Block

Preinstalled apps often can't be uninstalled — blocking them here is the equivalent.

Set the Play Store content rating for apps and games.

Controls›Content restrictions›Google Play›Apps & games›Rated for 12+

Turn off "Install unknown apps" for every app in the list.

Settings›Apps›Special app access›Install unknown apps›set each to Not allowed

This is the big Android one. Without it, your child can download an Instagram installer file in Chrome and install it directly, never touching the Play Store. Every entry in that list — Chrome, Files, Drive, Messages — needs to be off.

Turn off multiple users and the guest profile.

Settings›System›Multiple users›Off

A second user profile on the same phone is completely unsupervised. Family Link doesn't see into it.

The web: allow a short list, block the rest

Every social network works fine in a browser. If you block the apps and stop here, you've blocked nothing. The goal is allow-list only — a named handful of sites work, everything else doesn't, including sites that don't exist yet.

Safari allow-list

Good

Switch web access to Allowed Websites Only, then add just the sites your child truly needs.

Content & Privacy Restrictions›Content Restrictions›Web Content›Allowed Websites

A realistic starting list: the school's portal, Google Classroom, Khan Academy, the district lunch site, and your library. Add more as they're actually needed — that conversation is a feature, not a nuisance.

Turn off Siri's web search so it can't fetch what Safari won't.

Content Restrictions›Siri›Web Search Content›Don't Allow

Confirm no other browser is installed — and can't be.

Chrome, Firefox, Opera, DuckDuckGo, and the newer AI browsers all bypass Safari's settings entirely. Step 3's install block is what keeps them off. Delete any that are already there.

Chrome allow-list & search filtering

Good

Set Chrome to allow approved sites only, then build the list.

Controls›Content restrictions›Google Chrome›Only allow approved sites›Manage sites

Turn SafeSearch on and lock it.

Controls›Content restrictions›Google Search›SafeSearch›On

Block or restrict YouTube.

Controls›Content restrictions›YouTube

For this program, blocking the YouTube app outright is the cleaner call. Shorts is a social feed with comments and a follow graph — it just isn't filed under "social media."

Block every other browser on the phone, including Samsung Internet.

Family Link›Controls›Apps›Samsung Internet›Block

Samsung Internet is preinstalled on every Galaxy and ignores your Chrome settings completely.

Add a filter the phone can't route around

Better

Point the phone at a filtering DNS service.

Settings›Wi-Fi›your network›Configure DNS›Manual — or install a filtering profile from NextDNS or CleanBrowsing Settings›Network & internet›Private DNS›Private DNS provider hostname

Free options: NextDNS (a custom profile you control) or CleanBrowsing. This catches sites in apps you never thought to check, and on Android, Private DNS keeps working on cellular data — not just your home Wi-Fi. Then block Settings changes so it can't be undone.

Monitoring service

Best

Layer on a paid filter if your child has gotten around a setup before.

Canopy, Bark, Aura, and Mobicip all run roughly $10–15 a month and add alerting on top of blocking. Genuinely optional — the built-in tiers above are enough for most families, and an unused subscription protects no one.

Set the hours

Not strictly required by the Challenge — but a phone that goes quiet at bedtime removes most of the pressure that makes kids go looking for a way around the rest. The overnight block is the one that matters.

Downtime, limits, and who can reach them

Better

Schedule Downtime overnight and turn on Block at Downtime.

Settings›Screen Time›your child›Downtime›Scheduled

Something like 9:00 PM to 6:30 AM. Without Block at Downtime switched on, there's an "Ignore Limit" button and your schedule is a polite suggestion.

Set daily App Limits by category.

Screen Time›your child›App Limits›Add Limit

Restrict who they can message during Downtime.

Screen Time›Communication Limits›During Downtime›Specific Contacts

Choose what stays available at all hours.

Screen Time›your child›Always Allowed

Phone, Messages, and Maps. Your kid should always be able to call you.

Bedtime, daily limits, and per-app caps

Better

Set Bedtime — the phone locks itself.

Family Link›your child›Controls›Screen time›Bedtime

Set a daily limit and apply it across all seven days.

Controls›Screen time›Daily limit

Cap individual apps that tend to run long.

Controls›Apps›tap an app›Set limit

Mark Phone, Messages, and Maps as always available.

Family Link keeps calling available during Bedtime by default — confirm it, don't assume it.

Close the back doors

Most guides stop at step 5. This is the step that decides whether your setup survives contact with a motivated fourteen-year-old. None of these are hypothetical — they're what kids actually do, and several take under a minute.

Restrictions that hold the rest in place

Good

Lock account, passcode, and cellular changes.

Content & Privacy Restrictions›Allow Changes section

Set Account Changes, Passcode Changes, and Cellular Data Changes to Don't Allow. The first stops them signing out of the supervised account; the last stops them dodging your home network filter by flipping to cellular.

Force the clock to set itself automatically.

Settings›General›Date & Time›Set Automatically›On

Changing the time zone shifts the phone's clock out of your Downtime window. Automatic time closes it.

Turn on Find My and Stolen Device Protection.

A factory reset wipes Screen Time along with everything else. You can't fully prevent that, but you can make it obvious — a phone that's suddenly unsupervised is the signal.

Restrictions that hold the rest in place

Good

Re-check that "Install unknown apps" is off for every app.

It's worth checking twice. New apps get added to that list over time, each defaulting to off — but a single one switched on reopens the whole door.

Confirm guest mode and second profiles are still off.

Settings›System›Multiple users›Off

Turn on automatic date & time.

Settings›System›Date & time›Set time automatically›On

Turn on Family Link's alert for supervision being removed.

If your child factory-resets the phone or removes supervision, Google emails you. Make sure that email goes somewhere you read.

What kids actually do

Verified, current, and in rough order of how often they work. The last two can't be fixed with settings on this phone — they're worth a conversation instead.

Delete and reinstall the app
Shift the time zone
The screenshot messaging trick
The reboot window
Sideloading an installer file
A second user profile
The school-issued laptop or tablet
A friend's phone

Every quarter

The 60-second check

Settings drift. iOS and Android updates occasionally reset things, kids get more capable, and a setup that was solid in September may not be in January. Before each quarterly check-in, run this on your child's phone — it takes about a minute.

Confirm, in this order

If any one of these has changed, don't assume the worst — updates really do reset things. Just fix it and note which one it was.

01Open Screen Time or Family Link. Is supervision still on, and is the child still listed under your family?
02Ask the phone to install any app. It should refuse, or ask you for approval.
03Open the browser and type in a site that isn't on your list. It should be blocked.
04Search the home screen and the App Library for a social app. Swipe the whole way through — icons hide in folders.
05Check the installed-apps list for any browser you didn't put there.
06Skim last week's Screen Time or Family Link activity report. You're looking for unfamiliar app names and a spike of restarts at bedtime.
07Android: confirm "Install unknown apps" is still off for every app, and Multiple users is still off.

Menu names change with phone updates — if a path here doesn't match what's on your screen, the setting is almost always one level up or down under the same heading.

Your kid's phone,locked and ready.

Good Required

Better Recommended

Best Optional

Build the right kind of account

Apple — child account in Family Sharing

Google — supervised account in Family Link

Lock the vault

Screen Time passcode & account recovery

Parent PIN & account security

Apps: remove, then block the door

Clear the phone, then seal the App Store

Clear the phone, then seal every store

The web: allow a short list, block the rest

Safari allow-list

Chrome allow-list & search filtering

Add a filter the phone can't route around

Monitoring service

Set the hours

Downtime, limits, and who can reach them

Bedtime, daily limits, and per-app caps

Close the back doors

Restrictions that hold the rest in place

Restrictions that hold the rest in place

What kids actually do

The 60-second check

Confirm, in this order

Your kid's phone,
locked and ready.