Smartphones and tablets, when mixed with teenagers, can be a dangerous mix and as parents it is up to us to carefully manage what are young ones are doing online. There is so much danger attached to teenagers using smartphones from using them when driving, using them to browse things that parents won’t be happy about and even the possibility of befriending unscrupulous people. The point of all this, is that parents need to be on the front foot when it comes to protecting our teens. It is hard to strike a balance between Orwellian and caring, but that is what you need to do, and here are 5 apps to help you do it.
As far as messaging services to stay in touch with your child go, WhatsApp is most definitely the best and both you and your child should have it downloaded. WhatsApp allows you to send text messages, voce messages and video messages, as well as giving you the chance to call them via voice or video. When a message has been sent you will see 2 ticks and when the recipient sees it you will see 2 blue ticks, you can also use the messenger to see when your child was last active.
Qustodio
This is a comprehensive dashboard which will help you to manage all of your child’s online activity, from what they browse, and which social media accounts they use. This is a great app if you are worried about what your child is looking at online, and who they are speaking to. It isn’t nice to snoop on your child, but it is far better to do so if you can help avoid any problems.
Mobsafety Ranger Browser
There is a huge amount of things online which you won’t want your teenager to see and for this, you can use the Ranger Browser from Mobsafety. This is a free app which allows you to see what your child has been looking at online, as well as giving you the chance to filter their searches by putting certain topics on a black or white list.
Canary – Teen Safety
Driving and using your phone is illegal, but that doesn’t stop many teens each year from doing it, and involving themselves in an accident. You can help to minimize this by downloading Canary, and app which sends you alerts when your child is not driving safely. If your child uses their phone whilst driving, you’ll also receive alerts should they drive too fast, too late or in locations that are off-limits.
Ignore No More
Kids can easily ignore your calls when you need to get in touch with them but this doesn’t have to be the way. Ignore No More is a great app which allows you to remotely lock your child’s phone, until they return your call. Your teenager won’t be ignoring you for long once you have blocked access to their social media accounts!