There are two major types of parental controls.

The first is family rules or guidelines that you establish with your children, the second is technology provided by mobile phone companies, smartphone makers and app developers.

In many ways, the first kind is more effective because it involves teaching your children self-regulation and protection, which are with them wherever they go and can last a lifetime.

Monitoring and web filtering apps are available but do not let them give you a false sense of security because they are no substitute for the resilience, moral compass and cognitive filter children develop for their own wellbeing.

If you do use technology to monitor or limit phone activities, in most cases it is a good idea to be upfront with your children about this, and revisit it every now and then as they mature.

Because phones have web browsers, they can be used to view any type of web content, including content you might consider inappropriate for your children.

Establish rules and talk with your children about appropriate use.

Depending on the device, if you make yourself the administrator of your child’s phone and put the settings behind a password, you can block web browsing and other functions and decide if they can download apps, among other options. This may be a big factor in deciding what phone you give your child.

To find parental controls, contact your mobile phone company to see what it offers, or visit GrowingWireless.com for a list of wireless parental-control tools.

You can also search for parental controls, monitoring or filtering in the app store on your child’s phone.

Look at apps’ ratings and users’ reviews to see if they are worth downloading (even if they are free).

See if they have privacy policies or if their descriptions say anything about how the app will use your data.

• You will find links to app stores and other resources at ConnectSafely.org/mobile