Actually, no, those are two different functions and need to have two different passwords.

While it might seem logical that someone who can set parental controls on a device should also be able to unlock the device for use, the inverse is not true.

Let me give you a scenario.

A family has one Kindle Fire that they use.

The parents do have confidential information on there that shouldn’t be accessible to strangers.

They also let their child use the device at certain times for certain functions (maybe reading, playing games).

The parents have set up a password for parental controls so that they can choose what the child can do on the device.

However, they want the child to be able to pick up the device and use it without them having to be there each time. Maybe the child takes it to school, for example.

In that scenario, the child knows the password to unlock the device, but not the parental controls password. That’s why they need to be different.

However, I could see it making sense that the parental controls password can be a second device unlock password. That would require different programming (right now, there is only one device unlock password), but you might want to suggest it to Amazon by sending an e-mail to

kindle-feedback@amazon.com

As to your current situation…it’s possible to wipe the device when it has a device unlock password (the point of the password is to protect content on the device, and wiping it removes that). I can tell you how to do that, if you like…which kind of Kindle is it?

http://www.amazon.com/help/kindle/which

I’m assuming that your daughter doesn’t have the password to your Amazon account (as opposed to the Kindle). So, you can go to

http://www.amazon.com/manageyourkindle

go to

Manage Your Devices

and deregister it (or threaten to deregister it).

When it is deregistered, it will not have access to your account. That should be a pretty good discouragement.

As you’ve mentioned, you could typically reset the Kindle…but if your daughter put parental controls in place (as opposed to just a device password), I belive it will be prevented from being reset with the information below.

Here is the information on resetting a basic Kindle (what I call a “Mindle”) by entering a special password:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_navbox_k4trouble_reg?nodeId=200728480#password

Could you tell me a bit more about why you don’t want to have the web access? Is it because it would be distracting?

I ask because the approaches might be different if you were worried about charges, for example.

It depends on which Kindle you got as to the way it would work.

Let’s start out with ones with parental controls that can block access to the web. The password can be quite strong. You would select the password. Does it block use of the internet? Yes.

In terms of your last question, the answer is neither. It would never give you your old password, and it will not change the password without you already knowing it. In other words, you have to know the password to be able to change it, and if you forgot the password, you would have to reset the Kindle. That would wipe all of your personalization off it, so if one of your concerns is protecting documents you put on it, that would work.

I’m not sure if that answers your question…if it doesn’t, please comment again.

Amazon has a generous thirty day return policy on Kindles, and that does typically get extended during the holiday season.

You can contact them at

http://www.amazon.com/kindlesupport

If you are returning it and it is behaving as expected, you may be asked to pay the return postage, but wait to see what they say…as a Kindle owner, I’ve always found them helpful and friendly.

Amazon has given you the ability to block apps (on a Paperwhite, those are called “Active Content”) by blocking the store. Similarly, blocking the store will block those books you choose for her not to see. There are no in-app purchases on a Paperwhite.

On a Fire, which is more similar to the Apple products you are referencing, there are sophisticated parental controls. You can, for example, only allow specific books to be available (what is called “whitelisting”). You can limit the amount of time your child can use the device for particular purposes (you could allow unlimited reading, but apps for only an hour a day).

I think your concern may be more with the nature of the device than with Amazon. Apple elects not to make a device which is geared primarily for reading (like the Kindle, Kobo, or NOOK EBRs), so they do have only devices with more sophisticated parental controls (like the Fire or an iPad). A user of a Kindle Paperwhite can block all inappropriate content easily, it’s just the selectivity of allowing this title and blocking that one which isn’t available at this point.

Up to you of course, though.

Edited to add: oh, and in your case, it sounds like you are abandoning the bicycle (the dedicated reading device) for the car (the tablet), which has more controls.