How to Teach Your Kids to be Responsible While Using Cell Phones

Technology has influenced our cultural landscape. The advent of digital native has played a key role in shaping our lives, especially those of our kids. Today’s guest post addresses the challenging topic of how to teach your kids to be responsible while using cell phones and explains how the use of a mobile monitoring app can assist parents and bring peace of mind.

*This is a guest post by Anna Hanna*

Kids today are born in the lap of technology. Instead of playing hide and seek, they know how to navigate Internet, to watch cartoons, and play their favorite games online; a huge contrast between us and the alias generation.

Since the Internet is an inevitable part of our lives, the role of parents in raising smart kids has become quite challenging. Yes, technology has made our lives easier, but it has its downsides too, including how to deal with rebellious teens. Therefore, parental concerns about teen privacy and safety are equally valid. And how to teach your kids to be responsible while using cell phones becomes highly important.

How to Teach Your Kids to be Responsible While Using Cell Phones

Instead of smothering the teenager or getting panicked when some unusual activity takes place, digital parents must educate their teens on the perils of the online arena and can use a mobile monitoring app to ensure they become effective users of technology.

Teens and the Paradox of Privacy

The concept of privacy is not surprising among teens. Since socializing is technology-mediated, teens desire for their personal cyberspace. Thanks to smartphones, kids today can be connected to resources all across the globe. The right to privacy in teens has been derived from factors like trust and independence.

Trending

Hands-On Science Kits From Generation Genius Make Learning Fun

For many teens, privacy in the physical and digital worlds are two completely different matters. Privacy in the physical world includes time alone in their bedroom or with friends while privacy in the digital world is related to free decision-making when using social networking channels.

RELATED: A Must-Have Guide For Parenting in the Digital Age

Often parents are not good at handling teenage issues. There are parents who would deal with substance use, failing grades, etc. by becoming more authoritative. Raising teen rebellion and defiance may not be the best way to go.

However, there is a very thin line between privacy and secrecy. When kids desire for privacy, it can actually enhance their thinking capabilities and give them a mature feeling when handling challenges on their own. Secrecy is also a natural part of adolescence. When your kids are doing something secretive, it could be a red flag for you.

Digital Perils and Teen Monitoring

According to a report by Pew Research Centre, 73 percent of the teens in the United States were using social media channels in 2015. Though social networking offers potential benefits to kids, it also harbors dangerous areas for those who can harm naïve, young users, specifically teens.

In order to remain connected to their peers, kids often engage themselves in activities that lead them towards anxiety and depression. To value their privacy, they block parents from pursuing them on social media channels, therefore they can easily become prey to cyberbullying and other social evils.

As the forces of an online world are more tempting, it has become harder for parents to control online activities of their kids. Parents are now becoming aware of establishing defense protocols to protect their kids from dangerous internet accessibility. By using a mobile monitoring app, parents can tackle the silent perils in society including trolling and bullying.

How Mobile Monitoring Apps Can Help

Instead of having serious confrontations with kids that would result in a communication gap, parents can use covert monitoring techniques to check into their kids’ lives without their knowledge. Installing a mobile monitoring app can allow parents to be vigilant and to make a more informed decision about their kids.

What’s interesting about these monitoring apps is that they work remotely and discreetly. One-time physical installation is required for most monitoring apps, after which you can usually monitor the activities of your teen through a web-based control panel. This enables parents to keep a tab on not only the digital world activities but also those of the physical world. Giving parents a better chance of knowing what behaviors or topics need to be addressed with kids and when. Therefore, better preparing you on how to teach your kids to be responsible while using cell phones.

You can easily view the record of all incoming/outgoing and missed calls of your kid along with the relevant information about the contacts. Also, in the present techno-digital times, the prevalence of communication platforms including WhatsApp, Skype, iMessages, Viber, etc. enables kids to use these channels for all sorts of purposes. Via a good mobile monitoring app, you can view not only the message content but also the multimedia files (photos, videos, audio clips), if shared any. To avoid any unauthorized texting, you can watch-list specific words so that you can receive instant alerts if your kids are involved in sexting or pornography.

Moreover, you can keep tabs on the whereabouts of your kids through GPS tracking features in various apps. This can be especially helpful to parents of rebellious teens who may not always want to share their whereabouts with parents. GPS tracking features can give you peace of mind and ensure that your kids are not venturing out into dangerous territory.

Conclusion

Mobile monitoring can protect your kids against all subtle danger, both offline and online. The best thing about digital parenting is that parents can ensure the safety of their kids from online predators, scammers, and blackmailers with many of the available tools out there, mobile monitoring apps being one choice. Once you know what’s currently happening in your teen’s life, the next step is to educate them on the social perils like sexting and cyberbullying and you’ll be better prepared to teach your kids to be responsible while using cell phones.

Guest Post by Ann Hanna

Ann is a full-time mom and a blogger. She loves writing to spread awareness about parenting and cyberbullying. After so many years of experience as a parent, she has ample insight about the best and most innovative technological gadgets to use to keep kids safe in this digital age. She recommends parents use a good mobile monitoring app such as Xnspy mobile to ensure responsible cell phone use among teens.

Related articles across the web

• Back to school: How young is too young for a cellphone?
• Why You Need to Take Breaks