“I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection.” – Sigmund Freud
Are you the intrepid parents of one or more teenagers (age 12-17)? If so, do you wonder what they are getting up to on their iPhones? Much has been written over the years about the dangers that children face when they have unrestricted access to the Internet. Children who spend more than four hours per day in from of their PC screens are particularly vulnerable to mental illnesses such as loneliness, depression, and anxiety. Additionally, there is the potential for exposure to cyberbullying, violent content that is inappropriate for their age, as well as stalkers who prowl around chat rooms as well as public online game spaces.
Keeping your children safe in the digital space
There are many ways to protect your children by limiting their internet access and by controlling what content they can have access. However, the best way is to implement iPhone parental controls on your kids’ phones.
It should be noted at this point that it’s a good idea to get the buy-in from your kids before you install the parental control app on their phones. Although they are still legally children, they are well on their way to being independent adults; ergo, if they know about the parental control app and understand the need for the app, they will be happy to work with you and not fight with you.
The full potential of a parental control app
As mentioned above, the main aim of a parental control app is to “support you in your efforts to keep your kids’ internet experiences safe.” Therefore, here are several ways to help you maximise the benefits from a parental control app:
24/7 monitoring
It’s important for a parental control app to upload text message content, social media sites visited and photos viewed, instant messages, phone call logs, as well as utilise the phone’s default GPS tracking functionality to track the whereabouts of your children. Should there be a problem, all you need to do is to log in to the web-enabled control panel, and you will be able to see what your teens have been doing on the Internet as well as their current and historical location.
Geofencing
Should you wish to restrict your kids from physically entering certain locations, all you need to do is to set up a virtual fence on the iPhone parental management app. If your children venture into the area that you have fenced off, you will receive a message alerting you to the fact that they are where they shouldn’t be. Therefore, you will be able to take the necessary actions to keep them safe.
Block calls, websites and apps
Not only can you monitor where your children are 24/7, but you can also prevent them from visiting certain websites and accessing certain apps. For example, if your teens insist on playing an online game that is not appropriate for their age, all you need to do is block the game, and they won’t be able to access it via their iPhones.
