With kids exploring the world of the internet on a different range of electronic devices, it can be quite challenging for parents to protect them from things that they may not be ready to face online.
In the past few years, the technology has advanced so much so that we have witnessed a wide range of parental controls and monitoring solutions that allow us to keep a watch on our kid’s online activity and help us protect them from harmful dangers on the internet. These tools also let us set digital boundaries for our kids.
We, as parents, need to make it clear that the need for monitoring tools is inevitable. To ensure your kid’s safety online and to keep them away from potential online threats, you must track their online activity. Kids can be tracked online with the help of iPhone and Android device monitoring tools.
In this article, we will go through a case study of a parent who monitored their teen daughter’s phone to keep her safe online. Let’s understand how a monitoring tool helped them in protecting their daughter from potential dangers online.
A Case Study
A father of a teen daughter installed a monitoring app on her cell phone to track her online activity and see what she was up to on the internet as well as social media apps. On finding out about the app being installed on her phone, the 15-year-old daughter stormed into her parent’s bedroom, holding a pillow in her hand.
She threatened to murder her father in his sleep if he didn’t take off the monitoring app from her cell phone. Both parents got extremely worried because they never thought their daughter could intend to cause them any harm.
She was furious at her father because he had recently installed a monitoring app on her smartphone that put limits on the amount of time she could spend doing certain things on her phone. Because of these restrictions set by the monitoring app, she couldn’t play her favourite game, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood for long hours as she had been doing in the past.
However, her father felt that he had made the right decision. With the monitoring app, he could keep track of all her internet and phone activities only to make sure she was safe online. He didn’t want her daughter to land into any trouble.
Why Monitoring Cell Phones is Important?
Cell phone monitoring has become an integral part of digital parenting now. Parents should know how their kids are using their smartphones. They should know how much time they are spending in front of their screens, what sites they are visiting, what apps they are using, and what information they are sharing on social media.
Parents have all the right reasons to track their kids’ activity on their smartphones. Kids need monitoring because they are likely to come across several internet dangers including cyberbullying, sexual predators, sexting, pornography, etc.One of the best ways to keep kids safe from these dangers is to spy on their smartphone activity with the help of a monitoring app and see what they have been up to.
It is common for kids and teens to receive sexually explicit and hurtful messages from predators and bullies respectively on social media platforms. Also, they can easily stumble upon inappropriate and adult content while browsing different sites on their web browser. Most teens are likely to get involved in sexting with their partners in an attempt to take their relationship to the next level.
All these internet dangers are extremely harmful to kids’ mental and physiological health and can lead them to several disorders including depression and anxiety. Teens who have been exposed to internet dangers are also likely to experience feelings of loneliness and have suicidal thoughts.
Many social media apps such as Snapchat and Instagram allow teens to be secretive about their online lives and keep everything from their parents. It’s important to keep a check on your kid’s social media apps to see who they are chatting with and what sort of messages they are exchanging with others.
This is the only way to be aware of their online activities. If you do not monitor your kid’s online behaviour then you won’t be able to help them much and you won’t be able to save them from harmful dangers.
Using Monitoring Apps
Kids have access to a wide range of electronic devices these days such as smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and laptops. You need to check which electronic device your kid is most attached to and then opt for the monitoring app/software accordingly.
Reliable and effective monitoring apps work on all mobile platforms including Android and iPhone. Monitoring Android phone of your kid or tracking your kid’s iPhone is easy if you have a good monitoring app at your side.
You wouldn’t have to worry about your kid being unsafe on the internet or any social media app if you have installed an effective monitoring app on their device. Similarly, you wouldn’t have to fret if your kid is late from school because you can keep track of their whereabouts by using the monitoring app.
All their phone calls, text messages, instant messages, emails, web browsing history, social media activity, as well as location can be monitored by using monitoring apps. Monitoring solutions have provided peace of mind to many parents because they can watch out for their kid’s activities whenever they want.
Using a monitoring app on your kid’s smartphone is important because you want to protect them from several hazardous and unpleasant things on the internet. However, you should not offend your kid by using a monitoring app to spy on their activities.
Most kids would feel you are invading their privacy by deploying monitoring apps on their phones. It’s equally important to discuss this matter with your kid so they can understand how you are going to use the app and how it can impact their mobile and internet usage.
Having your kid’s confidence and approval is important so that they can work with you to avoid problems online and not feel offended that monitoring will breach their online privacy. Both you and your kid should agree on using the monitoring app on their smartphone and understand how it will help them stay away from potential online dangers such as cyberbullying and sexual predators.
Last but not least, educate your kid about online dangers and how a monitoring app can help them fight against them. The more they know about internet safety, the better and smart choices they can make for themselves.