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Whats Chrome?
Whats an extension?
Where do I find it?
Oh my gosh there are thousands! I can't do this.
Sound familiar? Its ok. Lets start at the beginning.
Chrome - Chrome is the Google created web browser that allows a user to log in with their Google (Gmail) email address and safe links, bookmarks, passwords, drive, classroom, and all the other Google products in one place. Then the user can go to any Chrome browser, log in as themselves, and see all of their personalized information and favorites.
Extension - An extension is like a fun add-on for Chrome that you can download or "add to" your browsing experience. You can find thousands of them in the Chrome Web Store in any and every category you could possibly think of! These are then seamlessly "attached" to your Chrome browsing experience and you can change settings in each one by going to the little puzzle piece in the top right corner of your browser window. Many are free and many cost money.
Where do I find it? To find extensions you need to open your Chrome browser, type Chrome Web Store in the search bar at the top, and click on the link that pops up in your Google search results. Or click here !
Once you're in the web store, you can browse around like any online store. If you are logged in as your child under their school supervised Google account, you'll see "St. Peter Interparish School" at the top. If you click on that, you'll find the apps that the school recommends or has allowed for your student. Hint: its not many!
Lets add an extension to our Chrome browser step by step so you can try it at home as well!
Start by going to the search bar at the top of your Chrome Web Store screen.
Type YouTube Shorts
You will notice that a bunch of results pop up immediately as you're typing. Just hit enter and this page will come up next in your search results.
Pick an extension that you think will work best for your needs. For this example, we're going to pick No YouTube Shorts
This window will open to show you more information about that particular app. In the top right corner you'll see the blue button called Add to Chrome. Click on that!
This will pop up. This is normal.
Click on Add extension
Congratulations! You've now added your first extension to your Chrome browser. Lets manipulate it to do what we need to keep our kids safer.
In a new Chrome browser window, click on the puzzle piece in the top right hand corner of your screen
You might see this box when you click on the extensions menu. This is ok. This means that school is taking care of your child's profile and some of the options used by that extension may not be needed because it is already being done. We are going to continue as if this is a home profile on a home computer.
Click on Manage Extensions from the menu above.
It will take you to this page where you can see all the extensions installed on your Chrome Browser. From here you can click on Manage and change options in the extension depending on what you prefer to use or not use. You can also turn the extensions on or off. Sometimes this is a good way to determine if there is a problem when your browser is "acting funny". Turning off extensions can sometimes solve problems because they're running in the background.
Notice that No YouTube Shorts has been toggled "on".
Click on Details on the left.
When you are looking at the details of this extension, you'll notice two spots. One is where it is allowed on the youtube.com website and the other is Incognito Mode. I recommend making sure both are toggled on.
And thats it! You've navigated how to work with Chrome extensions and now they will be working for you in the background.
A good rule of thumb: Sometimes extensions stop because of updates or something your child did. Periodically go into the puzzle piece and check to make sure extensions are set for your child's Chrome browser if you want to continue using them.
You can always uninstall these extensions the same way you installed them. Simply go into the puzzle piece, manage extensions, select the extension you want to uninstall and follow the prompts.
As always, when you're doing things to change or add parental controls, talk with your child. Let them know why you're doing this, how you love them so much, and that you trust them. This is just another tool in your tool belt to help your child remain safe.
You've got this. You are raising empowered kids!
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