Disclosure: collaborative post
Raising a family is no easy task. From birth, being a parent is difficult. Whether that’s keeping up with your child’s physical or emotional needs, it certainly takes its toll on our minds and bodies. As they approach teenagehood, it may feel as if you are struggling to catch up with your teen’s fast-paced life. You may worry that they’re engaging in conversations that they shouldn’t, or browsing sites that could be potentially damaging or even that they are meeting people that you are not sure of. All these things can lead to worry about panic which is certainly not productive. Maybe you don’t feel you can broach the subject easily. The first step, of course, is to talk to your kids. Ensure that they know you care and that you are there if they need advice, even if you find they are too stubborn to listen.
So is it OK to check up on them?
The answer is 100% yes. Until they are 18 or over, they are completely under your jurisdiction by law and you can certainly find methods to keep track of them, for their own safety and your own peace of mind. You can look online for apps to track kids. There are plenty of wonderful ones that will help you through these difficult times and will allow you to browse activity without them even knowing.
There are ways to implement safety on the computer also which you should look into. Parental blocks and filters will stop your kids from viewing dangerous or damaging content as well as giving them the boundaries that they need. There are also mayn programmes that automatically disconnect their phones from the online world at set times, perhaps this is after 11pm when you want them in bed. But in addition to this, the communication between you and your teen is going to be the most valuable. Monitoring them secretly is just fine, but there may come a time when you need to broach a subject with them and tell them that you have been monitoring their habits. This could push them further away or lead to rebellion. So it’s vital to keep good communication throughout the whole process. Explain the dangers, and go into detail with any specific stories you know of, to ensure that they grasp the severity of what can happen.
With online apps you can also track your teen’s whereabouts, so when they tell you that they are going to their friends house at 7pm, you can be sure that they are there. If they aren’t, a quick call would suffice and also help you keep track of their geolocation if they should go missing or not answer their phone.
What If I Want To Track More Than One Child?
If you have more than one teenage child, you may want to track them all and most apps will allow you to do this. It is also good to perhaps inform you kids that they are all being monitored, if you choose to take this approach, to show that none of them are being singled out and that it is a family situation that should be honoured and respected. Setting basic rules should be established at an early age anyway, to make sure that all your kids know their boundaries. Whilst you should also keep freedom at the forefront of your mind, there is no harm in wanting to keep track of them without acting possessive or as if you don’t trust them. In time, your teens will appreciate the lengths you went to, as a parent, teaching kids the dangers of the world are often not easy to digest until they are parents themselves. So don’t single any of your kids out and treat them all equally. Look for apps that will allow you to multi-connect and this will allow you to keep check on them all.
Just in case you need a little more convincing on the subject, then you can look into the dangers:
- Cyberbullying – This could lead to physical and emotional issues with your teen.
- Cyber Predators – They may pose as other people and lure them into a false sense of security.
- Posting Private Information.
- Phishing.
- Falling for Scams – They may give over information or credit card details (even yours)
- Accidentally Downloading Malware.
- Posts that Come Back to Haunt a Child Later in Life.
Take time to research the best ways to monitor your kids and be well aware that it is most certainly OK to want to keep them safe.
Thank you for reading - if you enjoyed this content, please consider buying me a coffee here or browse my Amazon wishlist I really appreciate your support and it helps to keep the site running and for my time 🙂