The advance of technology has changed many things so much. When I was a child, the nearest telephone was the phone box a few minutes walk away. Now almost everyone has at least one, and sometimes several, devices that can phone and text among many other things. This lets us contact our children if we need to change plans or if they need a reminder to be home on time.
This ability to constantly be in contact can lead to problems, particularly as children become older and may see caring as snooping. With most children and young adults being considerably more tech-savvy than their parents it is easy for them to mask their online and phone activity so that you are excluded. Chat, email, Twitter and Facebook are all easy to start up using an alias that they just give to their friends.
Be a good “friend” on Facebook
Facebook is a place that encourages people to say and post what is on their mind. This can be distressing to parents when they see their child participating in discussions or making comments that they do not deem appropriate. The temptation to check everything and then discuss it with your child is tremendous. The problem is that this is most likely to lead them to either unfriending you or to start up a new hidden Facebook account.
It is much better to let what is normally, if you step back for a moment, spirited unthinking comments to be ignored. If something inappropriate or dangerous comes up, then a quiet chat in person will be much more effective at changing their behavior.
Have some texting boundaries
Children and young adults have taken to text messaging in a way that can almost be scary with texts being sent to people in the same room sometimes. It can seem like you are being left out but in most cases, you will be seen as trying to intrude if you start text messaging them. Text messaging urgent messages and reminders will keep everyone happy and stop any text-based friction.
An innovative way
If you have some worries or hints of some inappropriate behavior, then there are apps that you can install on the device that you would like to know more about. These apps track the device and report back where it is and what it is doing.
The most reliable of these is mSpy. The advantage of mSpy is that it integrates itself into the phone, smartphone or tablet that it is installed on and is completely undetectable. The mSpy app silently watches and records everything that is done on the device and where the device is at all times.
You can review all the collected data by logging in from any internet connected device. You have full access to and the ability to block calls, texts and apps on the device, and you can record calls and audio from the device’s microphone.