How to Limit Children's Use of a Mac

With the latest release of Apple's Mac OS X operating system, also known as Leopard, parents are given the ability to place certain restrictions on a child's computer account. One of these restrictions is a limit on the amount of time that a child is allowed to be using the computer. Separate limits can be set for both weekday use and weekend use.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Mac running OS X 10.5 or later

1. Log on to your computer with an account that has administrator privileges.

2. Open "System Preferences" by clicking on the icon in the dock.

3. Choose the "Parental Controls" control panel from the "System" category.

4. Click on the lock in the lower-left corner of the window and enter your administrative username and password.

5. Select the account that you want to assign a time limit to from the list on the left side of the window.

6. Choose the "Time Limits" tab at the top of the window.

7. Check the box next to "Limit computer use to" for either the weekday or weekend settings.

8. Move the slider to the left or right to select the maximum amount of time per day that you want your child to be allowed to use the computer.