Does your teenager have a smartphone? If they’re like most teens today, not only do they have a smartphone, they probably spend more time interacting with their friends through text messages and apps than they do in person or by talking on the phone. And that means that you’re not even hearing their end of the conversations that they’re having. Are you worried about what may be happening on that smartphone that you don’t know about? If so, you may be interested in smartphone monitoring software. Following are a few ways this software can help protect your child.
Predators
Is your teen talking to a friend, or to a predator?
It’s a given that your teen will use their smartphone to talk to their friends about dating, and also to talk to their dates. Dating is normal and age-appropriate for teenagers. At least, it is as long as they’re dating other teenagers.
The problem is that anonymous dating and chat apps can put your teen in contact with people who claim to be teenagers, but who are really adults looking for a young person that they can take advantage of. Consider Tinder, which allows users to create profiles from their Facebook profile information. The app separates teens from adults, but any adult could create a fake teen profile and contact your child. Or think about Kik, which has no age restrictions at all, and allows completely anonymous users to use geolocation features to find other users nearby. Smartphone monitoring can help you ensure that your teen is being safe online and not talking to or meeting up with complete strangers.
Drugs
Your kids may believe the information they find online, but some of it is dangerously inaccurate.
The teen years are a time of experimentation, and teens that are looking to take a walk on the wild side could be convinced to try experimenting with drugs. Teens are also a time when emotions run strong, and a teen that’s heartbroken over a breakup or depressed about problems at home or school could turn to drugs as an escape.
You may wonder what that has to do with smartphones. The internet is full of potentially dangerous advice about drugs that teens can easily access. There are websites that explain how to take large doses of OTC drugs that teens can easily get their hands on, like cough medicine, to get high. There are sites that promote drug use and contain misleading or false information about the dangers of illegal drugs or the misuse of prescription drugs. And the anonymous chat apps that can be used to find dates can also be used to find dealers or parties where drugs and alcohol are available.
Bullies
Finally, the internet makes it easier than ever for bullies to find and harass their targets. There’s even a name for it: cyberbullying. At one time, teens who were being bullied at school could at least escape their tormentors when they got home for the day. But if your teen is being bullied and has a smartphone, they could receive harmful messages or pictures at any time of the day or night.
There’s also the flip side of the issue — your teen could be using their phone to bully someone else. It can be easy for a teenager to get swept up into going along with the crowd, and if what the crowd is doing is picking on someone, it’s always possible that your child could be involved.
Smartphone monitoring helps by letting you see what your teen is up to. That means that you can put a stop to any dangerous behavior before it goes too far. If you want to see how smartphone monitoring can help your protect your teen, get our free trial.
