Many parents don’t like the idea of a cell phone monitoring app since they don’t want to be too intrusive and want to give their children some privacy and respect. On the other hand, if you don’t keep track of what they are up to and who they are talking to, how do you know they are not involved in anything dangerous? There is a compromise: use an app that will help you track their physical location and give you a summary of some of the content they view without fully looking at the details.
You can also regulate your child’s activities in the first place so that there won’t be any need to “spy” on them. Some parental control software can be used to help you filter out content you don’t want them to view, and to block numbers you haven’t approved of. You might also be able to get a list of who they have been texting, or chatting with on social media, without actually having to view the content of those messages so that they can still have a bit of privacy.
Some phone monitoring apps come with screen-time management, which can be very helpful in teaching kids how to manage their time better, and note to get distracted by staring at a screen all day. Instead, they can be doing meaningful, productive things like studying for school, reading, paying outside with friends, eating dinner with the family, etc.
Phone Monitoring App for a Strict Bedtime
If you want your kids in bed at 10:00 every night, then schedule for their phone to turn off automatically. Some parental control software also works on other devices, like PCs and tablets, in addition to smartphones. However, it usually costs money to use a particular program on multiple devices. If you do want this kind of service, make sure all of the devices and PCs you want them for meet the minimum system requirements.
When looking over these apps and programs, find out how you will be notified about what your child has been up to. Even if you just want a summary of their activities and don’t want to know details as to give them some privacy, it’s still helpful to receive notifications and summaries. Also, if the phone monitoring app has a location tracker, and your child goes outside of what you designate as “safe zones”, then you’ll definitely want an alert for that. Will the notifications come in real time? Will you receive them in an email? SMS alert? Push notification?
Kaspersy Safe Kids is a very good phone monitoring app and service for parents. The free version alone comes with some great features. However, it’s best to subscribe to the premium version so that you can get the extra security tools, like location tracking.