By Jake Peterson
Publication Date: 2026-01-13 22:00:00
If you have a Family Account through Google, you might assume you can control what your child can see or do on their device. You can, but, as it happens, only up to a certain point. When your kid turns 13, Google will send them an email, letting them know they can choose to disable your supervision over their account. You get an email too, but they don’t need your permission to lock you out of their device. Once they decide they’re ready for a relatively complete Google Account experience, it’s their choice to make.
Despite being Google’s official policy, this situation was not common knowledge. Following a relatively viral LinkedIn post about the subject, parents were peeved at the notion of Google deciding that their 13 year old was ready to be unsupervised on the internet. Google’s Family Account does allow kids to stay on supervised plans after they turn 13, but they can choose to remove the supervision at any point, which largely defeats the purpose. Unless…
