Should I Download a Monitoring App for My Child’s Phone?

In today’s technology-driven age, apps, internet connectivity, social media, and, most importantly, phones – are part of almost every child's daily life. These digital tools allow children to be creative, communicate, and connect in numerous ways.

However, most kids are ill-equipped to prevent themselves from being affected by the downsides of technology. In hopes of communicating and making their online presence felt, most kids divulge personal information without checks.

They may follow random strangers, update their status with everyone, post daily pictures, and share details meant to be private. With the rise of artificial intelligence, spammers have started using AI to make personalized spam content and target kids.

So is there a way to protect our kids from the dangers of the online world? Let’s find out in this article.

The Online Dangers Kids Are Exposed

Online dangers exist and can impact almost anyone. However, children are victims the most because of their immaturity. Extensive research and news reports show that children are spending more time online than ever before. This, coupled with unrestricted access from parents, exposes children to various online dangers.

Some of those are:

1. Exploitation

Social media networks have been known to exploit children to make a profit. A recent Harvard study established how social media profited $11B from pushing ads to teens and minors. This is part of a larger trend of exploitation in which these platforms are engaged. They are aware that children engage with their platforms and use their algorithms to reinforce addictive tendencies to keep them coming back.

2. Predators

The massive anonymity that the internet provides makes it easy for users to disguise themselves as anyone they want. A predator can easily pose as a friend or relative. Their goal is to form online relationships with kids and manipulate them to share their explicit photos and videos.

3. Bullying

Cyberbullying is the most common online danger. Social media, instant messaging apps, and online games are where it happens the most. It happens when an individual of authority intimidates children with unwanted but repeated words and actions. 

4. Harassment

Children are harassed based on their names, looks, posts, comments, ethnicity, and religion. This unwelcome conduct mostly includes verbal and written abuse and insults.

5. Social Pressures     

It’s virtually impossible for kids not to have a couple dozen social media accounts. It’s not that they want to; peer pressure and the ‘fear of missing out’ compel them. Most trends are not born out of the internet, and kids wanting to fit in will actively try and engage with them.  Dangerous TikTok trends are a great example. Despite everyone knowing about the dangers of eating a Tide pod, at least 10 people died following it.

Why Parents Need to Learn Modern Parental Monitoring

With online access in easy reach, children are leaving a digital footprint everywhere. Modern-day parents have to deal with diverse challenges that the previous generation did not fathom. Keeping pace with how your children use technology is a challenge that can increase if you live an active lifestyle.

Your kid will surely have better technical skills than you, but depending on their age and range of online activities, they can easily become victims of online abuse.

Many times, you have to choose between allowing your kids digital access and keeping them safe. You can set up parental control measures through the built-in settings of the phones and apps. However, these practices are ineffective against the complex and rampant online dangers.

To protect against the aforementioned dangers, you must monitor your child's phone through a monitoring app. These apps come with many features that provide a better understanding of your child’s activity on the internet and social media. You are not only privy to pertinent data but can also run remote commands to lock their phones.

The monitoring app you choose also greatly affects the amount of insight you get. Some apps only provide inconsequential statistics, such as screentime reports or the number of times a phone was unlocked.

Others, like Xnspy, provide a more in-depth analysis of your children’s online lives. If you are wondering what Xnspy is, it is a parental monitoring app that lets you monitor your loved one’s devices to ensure online security.

Here’s how:

1. IM Monitoring

Instant Messaging(IM) apps offer innovative features for communicating and interacting. But end-to-end encryption makes tracking conversations and viewing shared media difficult.

With Xnspy, you can remotely access IM chat threads, view call logs, and review the multimedia files sent or received by your child. Each message is timestamped, making it easy for you to establish a timeline. The app can monitor texts on all popular messengers. such as WhatsApp, Viber, Instagram, Facebook, Skype, Line and Tinder.

2. Chat Monitoring

Text messages offer a discreet and simple way to interact. Cyberbullies and predators also prefer SMS because of the anonymity it provides.

In the Xnspy app, you can view messages in List or Conversation mode and access all the messages you receive and send. This lets you easily identify any unfamiliar contact and number that interacts with your kid. The day and time details make it convenient to track the conversation. If sifting through messages seems time-consuming, you can set watchlist alerts. on particular words to save time.

3. Web History

One of the major concerns of every parent is their child's access to risky and age-restricted websites.

With Xnspy, you can view your child’s phone's complete browsing History. The key details, such as a list of URLs visited and their frequency, and the date and time stamps, are neatly organized.

By clicking on the bookmark section, you can check if those include offensive or adult websites. The analysis tab gives you the list of the 10 most visited websites, which helps rather than going through the history of the entire day.

4. Location Monitoring

Teens, in particular, like to explore their lives after reaching adolescence. They may often make sudden plans for a hangout and lie about their whereabouts.

This is why apps like Xnspy offer GPS monitoring. You can track your child’s location and check logs to see how your child moves throughout the day. The app also allows you to make virtual boundaries, commonly known as geo-fences.

For example, by geofencing, you can set alerts for certain places that are not appropriate for the kids. You will get a notification if your child enters or exits that location.

5. Call Recording

If your child spends too much time on calls, it is a cause for concern. Often, predators use phone calls for discreet conversation, and this leaves little trace. The calls can lead from bullying to blackmail, and your child may keep it to themselves.

Xnspy has a feature that allows you to record both incoming and outgoing calls. The recordings are uploaded to the dashboard so you can listen to them remotely. The added details you can view are the contact name and number and the date and time of the call. If the calls include verbal threats, you can even download them.

For more details on the app features and how you can monitor your children’s online activities, visit the Xnspy website.

How to Monitor Kids Responsibly

The Internet and social media are changing daily at an incredible pace. Parental control measures and monitoring apps do help to curb online danger, but much more needs to be done. It is also important to know that the monitoring app works within ethical and legal boundaries. You should also respect the consent and concerns of the children.

Here are a few tips to ensure it:

a. Communicate with your child

Striking a balance between the child’s digital rights and monitoring is tricky. However, open discussions, setting boundaries, and wisely using parental apps make it easy. You have to make children understand that you have to guide them rather than control them.

Communicate the reasons for monitoring and ask them to express their concerns and questions. This will help build trust and prevent children from arousing any suspicions.

b. Respect their privacy

It is essential to keep your child from online dangers. However, it is often a grey line that you have to monitor their personal space. The best way is to identify any tell-tale signs and then take action to prevent instances of abuse and harm. 

c. Educate your child

Children learn most things from their parents and are eager to follow in their footsteps. You can use this behavior to teach kids about responsible phone usage. Tell them how certain online dangers can affect them and the steps to practice online safety. You can share important tips to stay focused among all the digital distractions.

d. Manage screen time

Spending considerable time on their phones can have a long-lasting impact on the child's physical and mental well-being. Children need to find a balance between their online activities and other aspects of their lives.

You need to encourage kids to indulge in physical sports and indoor games. It is also important to allow kids to pursue their passion, whether it's creative arts, playing sports, or music. Effective screen time management also involves limiting phone use during bedtime.

Bottom Line

In this uncertain digital age, online dangers loom, and children are easy victims. As a concerned parent, it is better to be safe than sorry. The internet and social media hold a sea of information where a child could easily get lost. They may come into contact with dangerous strangers and dish out personal information without a second thought.

So, yes, you should download a monitoring app to ensure your child's online safety. Phone or app parental control settings often lack advanced features that an app such as Xnspy can provide. With it, you can easily monitor your child's social media interactions, website browsing history, and multimedia exchange and take action after identifying potential threats.