How to Monitor Your Child's Smartphone Use
Use your judgment., Set rules now., Talk about inappropriate content., Toggle parental controls., Be upfront.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Use your judgment.
There’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach to monitoring your child.
What may work for one child may not work for another.
For this reason, think about what may become a danger for your teen.
If you’re worried they may sneak off, you might want to track their location.
If you’re concerned about the people they are talking to online, you might want to track their emails or texts.
If you’re concerned about them taking inappropriate photos and sharing them, monitor their photos and camera use.You may monitor different things with two teenage children. -
Step 2: Set rules now.
It’s difficult to backtrack on rules you set up for your teen.
Do some research and think about what rules you want to put in place before buying the phone.
That way, both you and your teen will be in agreement before it is purchased.
If they do not agree to the rules, then they do not get a phone.You may want to put rules into writing so that they can be easily referenced.
Alternatively, consider making the rules with your children so that you can more readily make rules they're more likely to follow.
Even if your child buys a phone with their own money, explain that you are still responsible for them and their activity.
For this reason, rules must be in place. , Before your child starts playing with their phone, have a serious discussion about posting, sharing, commenting or endorsing inappropriate content.
This might include inappropriate photos, rude, racist, or homophobic comments, or participating or endorsing illegal activity such as drinking, doing drugs, or smoking.
Let your child know that even joking about these things in a comment or thread can lead to serious consequences.Make sure you child knows there are potential long-term consequences for actions they take on their phone.
For example, police may get involved if there is an inappropriate photo shared or comment made that is illegal, and this can affect their future work or college experience.
You may also want to remind them that nothing online is truly private.
What they put online can stay there forever for others to see, so teach them to always exercise caution and respect when online. , Many smartphones have restrictions or parental controls in the settings.
Before handing a smartphone to your child, get familiar with the parental controls and decide which ones are appropriate.
Parental controls can restrict certain applications such as the camera and web browser.
You can make changes to the privacy settings, including location and social media, installing or deleting applications, and even limiting the volume control.
These settings can restrict your child from making purchases or downloading certain content.Most parental controls are only accessed through a password.
Make sure your child cannot easily guess the password-- they will surely try! , If you choose to monitor your teen’s activity, don’t do so privately.
Let them know that you are monitoring them.
You may want to tell them exactly what features you are monitoring and why you are doing it.
If you monitor their smartphone without them knowing, they may feel betrayed once they find out, and they will likely find out one way or another.
Before giving them the phone tell them that you will be monitoring it so that they will stay safe. -
Step 3: Talk about inappropriate content.
-
Step 4: Toggle parental controls.
-
Step 5: Be upfront.
Detailed Guide
There’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach to monitoring your child.
What may work for one child may not work for another.
For this reason, think about what may become a danger for your teen.
If you’re worried they may sneak off, you might want to track their location.
If you’re concerned about the people they are talking to online, you might want to track their emails or texts.
If you’re concerned about them taking inappropriate photos and sharing them, monitor their photos and camera use.You may monitor different things with two teenage children.
It’s difficult to backtrack on rules you set up for your teen.
Do some research and think about what rules you want to put in place before buying the phone.
That way, both you and your teen will be in agreement before it is purchased.
If they do not agree to the rules, then they do not get a phone.You may want to put rules into writing so that they can be easily referenced.
Alternatively, consider making the rules with your children so that you can more readily make rules they're more likely to follow.
Even if your child buys a phone with their own money, explain that you are still responsible for them and their activity.
For this reason, rules must be in place. , Before your child starts playing with their phone, have a serious discussion about posting, sharing, commenting or endorsing inappropriate content.
This might include inappropriate photos, rude, racist, or homophobic comments, or participating or endorsing illegal activity such as drinking, doing drugs, or smoking.
Let your child know that even joking about these things in a comment or thread can lead to serious consequences.Make sure you child knows there are potential long-term consequences for actions they take on their phone.
For example, police may get involved if there is an inappropriate photo shared or comment made that is illegal, and this can affect their future work or college experience.
You may also want to remind them that nothing online is truly private.
What they put online can stay there forever for others to see, so teach them to always exercise caution and respect when online. , Many smartphones have restrictions or parental controls in the settings.
Before handing a smartphone to your child, get familiar with the parental controls and decide which ones are appropriate.
Parental controls can restrict certain applications such as the camera and web browser.
You can make changes to the privacy settings, including location and social media, installing or deleting applications, and even limiting the volume control.
These settings can restrict your child from making purchases or downloading certain content.Most parental controls are only accessed through a password.
Make sure your child cannot easily guess the password-- they will surely try! , If you choose to monitor your teen’s activity, don’t do so privately.
Let them know that you are monitoring them.
You may want to tell them exactly what features you are monitoring and why you are doing it.
If you monitor their smartphone without them knowing, they may feel betrayed once they find out, and they will likely find out one way or another.
Before giving them the phone tell them that you will be monitoring it so that they will stay safe.
About the Author
Elizabeth Ford
Enthusiastic about teaching organization techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
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