{"id":16401,"date":"2015-08-11T06:31:43","date_gmt":"2015-08-10T23:31:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/?p=16401"},"modified":"2015-07-18T05:19:04","modified_gmt":"2015-07-17T22:19:04","slug":"why-parental-monitoring-apps-are-necessary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/why-parental-monitoring-apps-are-necessary\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Parental Monitoring Apps Are Necessary"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Parental<\/a><\/p>\n

When it comes to tweens and teens and cellphones, there are two philosophies. \u00a0One camp of parents believe that everything a child does on a cellphone should be monitored. \u00a0The other camp believes that children deserve their privacy and if their kid is a good kid, surveillance isn’t needed.<\/p>\n

Having heard a number of stories from parents through the years, I tend to weigh in on the monitoring side. \u00a0I liken it to driving a car. \u00a0The phone, like a car, can be a dangerous tool. \u00a0But if taught correctly how to use it, you minimize possible deadly errors.<\/p>\n

I’ve often heard the words, “my kid is a good kid, I trust her.” \u00a0But here are some things that come up, due to the prevalence of cellphones in kids’ hands, \u00a0you wont\u00a0see coming like…<\/p>\n

Bullying<\/strong> – many times other kids don’t like good kids. \u00a0Unbeknownst to you, your child may be a victim of bullying and s\/he hasn’t told you. \u00a0Surveying texts and social channels can give you helpful warning signs.<\/p>\n

Unknown Friends<\/strong> – you know your daughters friends, you see them at practice, after school, at your home. \u00a0But friendship is easy to strike-up online. \u00a0As a young adult, it’s easy to think people who befriend you online are honest and straightforward, especially if they’ve been a good friend to you and compliment you. \u00a0Don’t underestimate the power of unscrupulous adults\u00a0\u00a0who build relationships with kids online.<\/p>\n

Harassing<\/strong> – girls are getting more bold these days through texting. \u00a0Your son might enjoy the texting attention at first, but may be in over his head in how to handle this newfound, unsolicited attention. \u00a0Don’t think for a second that his number won’t be passed around.<\/p>\n

Hooking Up<\/strong> – Nowadays, kids don’t talk directly to each other anymore…especially when asking others out. \u00a0They start relationships through texting. \u00a0As a relationship with the opposite sex develops at school, it is quite common for girls to be asked to send naked pictures of themselves. \u00a0If girls complain, the boy jokes that his friend grabbed his phone and texted that, “he’s so sorry!” \u00a0Is this the kind of boy your want your daughter to have a crush on?<\/p>\n

Suicidal Hints<\/strong> – your son or daughter may receive texts that indicate a friend is thinking about attempting suicide. \u00a0Does your child know how to handle this?<\/p>\n

Running Away –<\/strong>\u00a0your child may have a friend text them that s\/he is running away. \u00a0Does your child have the tools to help their friend through this very possibly dangerous situation?<\/p>\n

Selling Drugs –<\/strong> your child could very well receive unsolicited offers to receive “mind powering” brownies (with drugs inside) or options to buy drugs directly. \u00a0Most likely these texts will include slang to it’s not as obvious. \u00a0What if the messages keep coming despite your child’s rejection?<\/p>\n

Pornography<\/strong> – you know your child wont directly search for pornography, but what if it’s sent to them and it becomes a form of harassment, how will your child handle this? \u00a0Will s\/he tell you?<\/p>\n

Tweens and teens do not have the tools or even the emotional maturity to handle these types of issues. \u00a0If your child tells you about these issues, great, you can help maneuver them through ethics, legal ramifications, and friendships. \u00a0But what if your child doesn’t tell you?<\/p>\n

Unlike learning to drive a car, kids get little to no instruction on how to handle these issues that stem from mobile\/online relationships. \u00a0They aren’t the normal issues you think of when you give your child a phone, like setting up email, using the calendar, setting up an address book, loading music files, etc. \u00a0With as fast as society is going these days, these are real issues happening on school campuses everyday.<\/p>\n

In doing research for this article, I ran across this quote from\u00a0David S. Rose<\/a>, an\u00a0eentrepreneur, mentor, and\u00a0parent. \u00a0The rule he enforced in his family was<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“For so long as you live under our roof, privacy is a privilege that is earned by responsible actions, and not the inherent right of a minor child.”<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

“In practice, this means that (a) I reserved the right to monitor ALL communications and accounts at all times, but (b) the frequency of such monitoring decreased in inverse proportion to responsible use of the medium.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The key here is that as the child shows responsibility, his monitoring decreased. \u00a0This gives the parent the chance to help children with possible scenarios early on in phone use and create discussions on how to proactively solve problems.<\/p>\n

Parental Monitoring Apps<\/span><\/h2>\n

Fortunately, there are a number of apps out there to help parents and t(w)eens maneuver the potential dangers of t(w)een cellphone usage. \u00a0Monitoring varies per each app, no one app does it all, but all are a good start.<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

WebSafely\u00a0<\/a><\/h2>\n

Free<\/strong><\/p>\n

Android\/iOS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Can use to manage\u00a0multiple children\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"WebSafety<\/a><\/p>\n

WebSafety helps parents monitor questionable and potentially harmful content on their t(w)een’s phone. \u00a0Through the WebSafety account, you will be able to monitor…<\/p>\n