Why Parents Feel Obligated to Monitor Kids’ Online Activity?
In this digital day and age, most parents feel obligated to provide their kids with a cell phone. They feel kids should have a cell phone so they can easily get in touch and reach out to them during an emergency. While handing over a cell phone to kids offer a sense of security to parents, it also exposes them to harmful and objectionable content on the internet.
Monitoring your kids’ online activity may not sound like a good idea but given how unsafe your kids are in the online space, surrounded by dangers, you aren’t left with a choice but to monitor them. A reliable and professional Android monitoring app or some best iPhone spy software can be considered in this regard.
When you, as a parent, have all the right reasons to monitor your kids’ internet activity, monitoring would not remain an unethical act anymore. In fact, it will become more of a morally responsible act.
These days, almost every kid and teen are seen glued to their devices and most times parents have no faintest idea what they have been up to on their devices all day long. To ensure they are not involved in a dangerous activity, you must monitor what they are doing on their devices.
You can deploy a monitoring app on their phone without them knowing and secretly keep track of their online activity but we will not recommend this act. It’s better to take your kid into confidence and tell them that you are going to monitor their cell phone. If you explain the reasons for monitoring, they will be more likely to understand you without having to feel that their online privacy is being violated.
So why most parents are obligated to monitor their kids on the internet? What could be the pressing reasons behind using parental control apps? Let’s discuss the reasons in detail.
Kids Visiting Unsafe Areas
If you are concerned about your kids visiting unknown and unsafe places, you can use monitoring apps to track their whereabouts. By being able to monitor their location, you can be in touch and reach out to them during an emergency, however big or small.
As soon as your kid enters an unsafe zone, you can reach for their help immediately and protect them from impending danger. With GPS tracking apps, you can stay updated on your kid’s location all the time.
Identify Theft on Social Media Platforms
On social media platforms, it has become easier for cybercriminals to hack kids’ online identity and pretend to be them. Several cases of cybercrime have been reported in the last where hackers have successfully stolen kids’ profiles on social media apps such as Facebook and Instagram.
They not only steal sensitive information but also take over their private photos and videos and create fake profiles using their names. As parents, you need to control how much personal information your kid should share on social media and with whom. By tracking their social media accounts with monitoring apps, you can find out how much and what sort of data your kids are sharing with others.
Texting with Strangers
When your kid is using different social media sites, they are bound to meet new people and make new friends there. However, you cannot predict what sort of people they are going to chat with and whether or not they have harmful intentions.
You should always monitor your child’s text messages, both incoming and outgoing, to find out who they are chatting with and what sort of messages they are exchanging with them. Monitoring apps can help you find out immediately if your kid is sexting or interacting with a pedophile through messages.
Browsing Inappropriate Content
The internet is laden with all kinds of information. Your kids can benefit from the internet while seeking educational or informative information but at the same time, they can also come across all sorts of inappropriate content.
It is not healthy for your kids to watch adult content at a tender age, therefore you must watch out for what sort of sites they are visiting and what kinds of videos they are watching on the internet. With the best iPhone monitoring app, you can also block apps and sites on your kid’s device that you may find unsuitable.
Becoming A Victim of Cyberbullying
Online platforms, especially social media apps and gaming platforms are places where cyberbullying takes place the most. Kids are exposed to cyberbullying on these platforms more than any other place.
The effects of cyberbullying are so devastating that they may cause the kids to have increased feelings of depression, loneliness, and sometimes even suicidal thoughts. Parents should not take cyberbullying lightly and should find ways to prevent that from happening to their kids.
To prevent cyberbullying, you should install monitoring apps on your kids’ devices and track what sort of conversations are taking place on their phones and whether or not someone is trying to send threatening, hurtful, or mean messages to them.
