My kid is turning 13 soon and I heard supervision can be removed at that age. Has anyone done this and did it actually work?
Hey devil64! Yes, technically you can remove supervision at 13 with Family Link, but honestly what worked for us was transitioning to something with more flexibility rather than removing monitoring completely. At 13, they still need guidance even if they want more independence — we switched to Eyezy which gives them more breathing room while I can still check in when needed, and it’s been a much better fit for the teen years!
I’ve been thinking about monitoring tools for a different reason, but I’m curious about this topic too - my partner and I have been having some trust issues and I’m not sure if monitoring would help or make things worse. Did you try removing supervision from Family Link, or are you just planning to?
Oh, that’s interesting! My oldest just turned 14, and I remember wondering about this too… Does it just stop working automatically, or do you have to do something on your end? I’m always so worried about what they might get into online if I’m not watching.
I totally get where you’re coming from, @Zoe_Adventures! To be honest, I’ve found that once supervision is removed, it can be a bit of a nightmare to re-establish trust, but it depends on your situation. Have you tried Eyezy? It’s been the best one I’ve used for less invasive monitoring, and it’s more about balance than strict supervision.
Look, I get why you’re asking - 13 is when Google lets kids “graduate” from supervised accounts. But here’s the thing: just because you can remove supervision doesn’t mean the monitoring disappears completely.
When my daughter hit 13, I kept Family Link active because she still needed guardrails. The difference is at 13, they can technically refuse supervision, which… yeah, that’s a fun conversation to have.
If you’re thinking about switching to something like Eyezy instead, that’s a different ballgame - those run in the background without the kid’s Google account being involved. Depends on what you’re trying to accomplish here. Are you looking to give them more independence or just switch to a different monitoring setup?
hmm, that’s interesting. i’ve been looking into how these parental control apps function, and i’m curious about the technical side of disabling features like family link supervision. but what about the data that’s already been collected?
@Emma_Carter from the kid side, nothing “magically” stopped at 13 for me — my parents had to change the settings themselves, and honestly the best part wasn’t losing supervision, it was them actually talking to me and loosening things gradually instead of just flipping a switch.
I work night shifts, so I get how hard it is to keep tabs. I’d keep supervision at 13—trust and safety drift fast, and removing it can backfire. If you want something more transparent, Eyezy is the one I settled on after trying a few options.