Did you know 75% of kids prefer animation to live-action? Probably that is the reason why anime platforms are on the rise. Today we will discuss one such streaming service, where you can get thousands of anime episodes. It's Funimation!
Funimation has been around since the mid-90s, but it was not until 2005 that the Funimation streaming channel came around. It has more than 2.5 million active users, and a massive part of it is kids and teenagers.
Young children are so in love with this app that they can quickly lose track of time and get distracted from their studies. And at the same time, parents are not sure if Funimation is safe for kids to use. So, let's find out if their concerns are correct.
What is Funimation?
Funimation is a distributor of several anime series with over 15,000 hours of anime time to watch. Users can also enjoy a 14-day free trial. But after that, they have to pay a certain amount. There are some yearly plans too, with which you can save more. After the Funimation and Crunchyroll merger, viewers can expect a better flow of anime content in all languages. Have a look at its plan structure:
- The premium account is available at $5.99 per month and $59.99 annually. With this subscription, you get the entire Funimation content without any ads.
- The premium plus account comes at $7.99 for a month and $79.99 per year, enabling you to receive all the benefits of a premium account plus offline viewing facilities. The best part about this plan is you can stream the content on five screens simultaneously.
- Premium plus ultra is available at $99.99, with which you will get two free rentals per year, plus the shipping on all orders is free.
Age Ratings
The official age for signing up on Funimation is 13 years old. However, there is plenty of 18+ content on this platform. There is no hard and fast verification rule for the sign-up, but it does require the users to add a mode of payment. So, the kids often ask parents to pay for the subscription.
One severe problem about Funimation that parents should be wary of is that the site only provides a warning message before showing 18+ content, which can be bypassed easily.
Similar sites to Funimation
Apart from Funimation, there are several sites that similar to Funimation where kids can access anime. Some of them are:
- crunchyroll.com
- animenewsnetwork.com
- Anime-planet.com
- viz.com
Is Funimation Safe?
Even though Funimation has a pool of amazing content from which kids can receive fun and satisfaction, the site can also cause issues among kids. Such as, the site also has 18+ content inappropriate for kids and young teenagers.
Some of the other problems that may arise from spending time on Funimation are:
It can be addictive
With unlimited access to anime content, it's natural to lose track of time. If you have provided young kids with a subscription to Funimation, it is likely, that they will be spending a lot of time on it. However, you have to ensure that they don’t get addicted to it. Watching anime for continuous hours will hamper their day-to-day life, studies, and sport.
Adult content
Even though Funimation is one of the most extensive libraries of anime TV shows and films, we cannot deny that it also has TV shows and movies with explicit content in them. Therefore, you have to be careful what your kids access over this platform.
In-app purchases
There are all kinds of subscription and in-app purchases on Funimation. However, if your kids have access to your credit card and other modes of payments, it can be a disaster. It is not all about the excessive expenditure, but kids also may encounter online scams that cause the card being hacked.
How to set up parental control on Funimation?
To ensure that your kids are not exposed to adult content, Funimation has its safety feature. You can enable it to prevent your kids from browsing adult content. So, let's see how to enable the parental control setting on Funimation.
- Go to funimation.com
- Log into your account and click on Preferences
- Now choose the Video Settings and look for the tab Restrict Mature Content
- Here you can turn on/off the restriction toward adult content on Funimation
However, just toggling off the mature content would not be enough to control your kid's online activities. To have complete control over what your kids are doing online, you need to install a parental control app like Wondershare FamiSafe. With this one, you will be able to block the app completely, set a schedule, and check which websites they have browsed online.
The following video will show you how to use Wondershare FamiSafe to schedule your kids' devices.
If you prefer text guide, here are the specific steps :
Step 1
First, download the FamiSafe app from the official website of Wondershare on your phone and FamiSafe Kids on your child's.
Step 2
Register and log in to your account as Parents, and use the same login details to log in to your child's phone.
Step 3
Tap in the Pairing Code and grant access to FamiSafe as the instruction suggests to complete the pairing process.
Step 4
Explore the menu and tap the Screen Time feature. Set the screen time limit to restrict the number of hours spent on devices daily.
Other tips for parents on Funimation
The digital world can be a little complicated for young and innocent kids. As parents, you need to watch their steps and communicate with them to ensure they are and will not be placed in any dangerous situation.
And to ensure kids' safety on Funimation, the following tips will also be helpful apart from the safety setting on Funimation and the parental control app.
Establish some ground rules
Every household needs specific rules regarding gadgets, for instance, no phones after 10 pm or during dinner. The same should be done in the case of the Funimation streaming. Establish some ground rules like your kids can get to stream the anime for one hour every day after finishing the chores to reduce your kids' time spent on Funimation as much as possible.
Explain age limits and age-inappropriate sites
Instead of disallowing your kids to access Funimation entirely, you need to explain to your kids the age limits of apps or platforms to let them know the meaning of age limits and what could happen if they try to bypass the rule. In addition, you need to talk about all the unsuitable content available on this platform and how it may affect them adversely.
Replace online activity with outdoor experience
Spending time with your kids on outdoor activities can reduce kids' interest in online activities, including watching anime. Instead, be your kids' partners and go outside with them to let them enjoy the energy from nature. Tell them the benefits of outdoor activities and motivate them to socialize more with friends outside the digital world.
Conclusion
As one of the largest anime platforms, Funimation wins popularity among kids. Though there is nothing wrong with anime, parents still need to take care of kids' activities on the platform. Hope you find the article helpful.
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