Being a child means always learning something new. This can be obviously exciting as it can be frightening, especially for parents who are always worried about what their children may discover on the wide webs of the Internet.
After all, they are the generation born in the era of mobiles and gadgets being the norm in every hand and household. It is no surprise that they know much more about technology than their parents and such can work their way through the Internet, unlike anything you may know about.
You may want to keep your child’s iPhone under an iPhone parental monitoring to observe their actions. You never know when they get in trouble for some online activity or just like a 2-year-old in China lock their iPhone for 47 years on repeatedly pressing the wrong password. Yes, it really happened.
It becomes important as many times parents don’t realize the enormity of the problem these mobiles have brought to our doorsteps. Parents think they know where their kid is and what they are doing at any point time but the answers have only gotten more complicated in the years since the technology first arrived.
Reasons to Monitor Your Child’s Internet Activity on iPhone
Surfing the online world seems a simple activity but the reality is much more tricky. It offers so many extremes that you can never be sure which way will they learn more, the educational side, fun side or the dark side of the net.
With so many options on the internet, you are always nervous about what your kids might be exposed to. Kids can create their own avatars and open websites of all kinds. Such a crazy scenario may force you to have a parental control software but first, let’s go through some of these dangers:-
1. Viral Challenges
Viral challenges have almost become the face of the internet for so many people and celebrities even further their craze. Kids and teens are obviously the most gullible when it comes to being influenced by such an online craze.
These media-fueled frenzies seem too overwhelming for them to ignore despite the risks involved. Still, kids do it, mainly because of FOMO (Fear of missing out) and peer pressure. They feel pressured to follow these silly trends or else they will have very few friends, a scary thought for kids and teenagers to endure.
2. Online Predators
Social media sites are a dominant force on the Internet and the biggest advantage they give is anonymity. It would be harmless enough if you are just expressing your views calmly but people use it to cause harm to the most vulnerable population group, youngsters.
The figures are there, 1 in 25 kids have claimed to have received unwanted sexual solicitation while being online and the predator wanted to meet offline. 77% of these targets were aged 14 or older and the remaining were even younger.
3. Criminal Activities
Kids are always yearning to act cool among their peers and sometimes aren’t even afraid to break the law to achieve their fleeting targets. They can be influenced by extremists views being shared online and behaving like these violent and racist people.
They are at a highly vulnerable place in their lives and even the slight tilt towards a dangerous kind of thinking can have devastating consequences for their life. Recent incidents in the U.S like Parkland school shooting and other such incidents have sparked concerns on how radicalized the kids can become.
4. Excessive Screen Time
A 2010 study by Henry J.Kaiser Family Foundation revealed that kids between 8 to 18 consumed around 71/2 hours of media per day. These are startling numbers and don’t hint at a very healthy future for these kids.
This causes various health problems like blurry vision, headaches, eye strain, lack of sleep, body pain, etc. Additionally, studies get affected and many physical problems are created at such a young age where the body is getting developed.
5. Inappropriate Content
Kids need to watch content that helps them grow and also have some fun. The problem is that various videos parade themselves on the Internet as kid friendly but have family-friendly characters performing heinous acts.
The family-friendly character fools parents who think their kids are watching something harmless but in reality, the kid is being exposed to horrifying images of violence and acts of sexual nature. Obviously, their young minds are not equipped to handle such content.
Brief Tips on How to Handle their Internet Activity
It is a tough balance in giving your child access to the Internet and keeping their online actions under control. There are some trusted spy cell phone applications for your need but it is advisable to first try some tips you can share with your kids:-
- Use a screen name only and remember to not share passwords (except with parents)
- Never agree to meet someone you met online without trusted adult supervision
- Don’t reveal personal information to strangers
- Don’t trade personal pictures under any circumstance
- Be sure to tell parents or a trusted adult about any scary or hurtful communication
Best Parental Monitoring Apps for iPhone
So, you know all the threats and you have tried some personal tips to get the situation under control. Though, if you are still not convinced, using an iPhone parental monitoring software to keep a close eye on your kid is justified.
You are not trying to invade their privacy. You are just trying to keep them safe. Listed below are the three best spying apps for this reason:-
1. Spymaster Pro
Spymaster Pro is a market’s leading spy software to employ parental control on your children’s iPhone devices.
Features
- Listening to phone calls
- GPS tracking
- SMS and IM tracker
- Live screen-shots
Pros
- Accurate GPS tracking
- Compatible with the latest iOS update
- Stays stealth
Cons
- Not compatible with Symbian and Blackberry
2. NetSanity
It is a cell phone monitoring app for iPhone and Android.
Features
- SMS tracker
- Customer Service
Pros
- Easy user access
- Decent pricing
Cons
- Can not block calls and contacts
- Some iPhone devices do not jailbreak
3. Qustodio
Qustodio is a parental control tool for iPhone.
Features
- Website blocking
- Social media monitoring
Pros
- Filters online content
- Time scheduler
Cons
- Only tracks Facebook in social media
- Dated Web Portal
Conclusion
Kids in today’s day and age get their iPhone devices at a very early age. For the most part, kids do not have the maturity and understanding to handle the responsibility well. The way the internet operates only make the threat more real. Thus, a trusted iPhone parental monitoring software like Spymaster Pro to keep on what they do and where they go is a reasonable step to take for the sake of their safety and overall well being.
Spymaster pro 