You just wondered how your child has gotten a gift from someone you know nothing of. It may be forgivable if you know your child has a lover given their age is at their teens but when they are too young, spends little time outside and keeps hooking their eyes either at the computer or their mobile phone, it may be time for you to step in and intervene.
It does not mean to say that you just barge into your child’s room and rant about the things you saw and what you have noticed. You only have to ask them in a gentle manner about what you have noticed and ask them for an explanation. If they refuse to do so and your doubts are getting stronger over your child’s behavior, you may need to monitor your child’s activities, particularly the time they spend with their mobile phone and their computer.
Restricting Your Child’s Online Activities
You must have heard the number of children being exploited for their innocence and it has a very high rate being done online. Social media has been the center of attraction for identity theft, exploitation and sex scandals of all ages, even child pornography. The scary thing about this is that once the media files containing your child’s image will only get exploited and even use for the exploiter’s advantage. Mobile phones these days can be used to take your own photo and upload it directly to the internet instantly. You may not be able to prevent the files that your child has uploaded into the internet before but you can prevent them now with using a parental control app that restricts your child’s online activity.
Minimizing The Risks
There are children in which no matter how much you try to explain to them about keeping their hands off from their mobile phone at times not appropriate for them, they retaliate and even become rebellious to the point of getting influenced on doing things that parents fear the most. You can control your child’s online activity by filtering the websites they visit with their computer and even their mobile phone. There are loads of apps available in the internet that will help you know the kind of online activities your child spends most of their time with. But before installing the app into your child’s mobile phone, check first if they are able to do the following:
- Delete personal data remotely such as photos, videos, or personal information
- Track the location of the mobile phone with the use of the GPS locator, even if it is not available
- Delete everything inside, including resetting the settings remotely when mobile phones get stolen or misplaced
- Block apps that are potentially addicting and will consume your child’s time from completing school homework or the right amount of sleep
- Monitor texts and phone calls.