Spy-parents or do you need parental control apps on a child’s phone?

Now it’s impossible to imagine an adult leading an active social lifestyle without a mobile phone. Almost all modern schoolchildren also have smartphones. Since this is still a necessary device for communicating with parents.

Someone uses phones for their intended purpose, and someone spends hours playing a game or communicating in social networks. This excessive passion for the phone is certainly a concern for both parents and teachers at school.

Getting out of the situation

As an option to solve the problem, you can buy a student a push-button telephone. Children can only use it for calls and text messages. But without depriving your favorite child of a modern toy, you can put the parental control apps on your device.

There may be several options, starting with the settings available on some phones, and ending with special paid and free programs. The latter allows you to control the child’s device from a parent phone or tablet.

For example, in Google Play itself, make some settings so that your child can’t download everything from the store. Or you can download special programs for control.

These programs, depending on the chosen one, can:

• imply restrictions on the time of using the phone;
• put a ban on games (by age);
• track the location of a child;
• track social networks;
• keep records of requests and visited sites on the Internet;
• block some websites and requests.

It all depends on the program and on the settings that will be set by the parent.

Looking for an alternative

Make an agreement with your child that they are not allowed to use the phone for more than the allotted time. And if your child forgets the restrictions, programs may warn the child about prolonged use of the device.

If the child cannot limit himself in the time of using the phone, then these programs will greatly simplify the life of parents. They can block all actions except calls at the set time.

It is possible that at first, the child will rebel against the new rules and restrictions. Because it’s very difficult to give up your favorite toy.

But you can use this as a motivation system for the child. A system that allows the parent to soften the terms of use of the device: for weekends, holidays, for good grades, and for the absence of comments from teachers.

If you want to put serious restrictions on the child’s device, and not just periodically monitor his activities and location, it is advisable to adhere to the following rules:

1. The child should know that the parents have restricted the use of the tablet or phone. It is best to talk to the child in advance and explain to him why you put such a program. It’s a much more sensible way than seeing his reaction to a program that suddenly worked.
2. Tell the child when the device will be available and when it will be locked. Explain the reasons for the block at the specified time.
3. Discuss with the child the conditions for partial or full cancellation of the lock. For example during school holidays and on weekends.

As practice shows, children quickly get used to the new rules, spend less time on their phones and tablets. They stop being distracted by them in school or when doing homework and go to bed on time.

Thus, parental control programs on children’s tablets and phones are undoubtedly useful and necessary. That’s a pretty reasonable approach. These programs can both simply keep track of the child’s actions on the Internet and calls, and seriously limit their actions in using the device. However, too much of a good thing is good for nothing.