With this trust and confidence, parents can mold the teens in any way they want. Gone are the times when teens are sticking to the apps and games that their parents confirmed. With the evolving technology and dangers associated with it, there is a dire need to protect your teens no matter if they understand it yet or not. The use of parental control apps is not a choice, but a necessity for parents now.
During teenage, the part of the brain responsible for logical thinking is not that developed as compared to their impulses and emotions. Teens are vulnerable and emotional at this stage of their lives. At the same time, they don’t want to be controlled. They hardly understand the dangers hovering over their heads as they enjoy this fantasized digital world. Some parents, being helpless, give up the need to protect them, thinking that they will handle it on their own.
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Is It Really Necessary to Supervise Your Teens by Monitoring Them?
Well, if you don’t think it is necessary, then it is an alarming situation. Recently a 12-year-old girl, Mallory Rose Grossman, committed suicide after nine months of cyberbullying. Know more about her devastating and heartbroken story here.
Do you still think your teens can handle online dangers?
With the highest rate of cyberbullying, body shaming, online predating, substance abuse, and many other dangers associated with social media, teens are having the hardest time even if they don’t share. Sometimes they don’t even know what is happening to them. They trust strangers so early, post their personal life so openly, and share everything they feel. At first, they don’t realize the consequences associated with this type of behavior, but parents are there to help before it gets too late.
You cannot just rely on your teens and expect them to learn things on their own. Sometimes, teens end up being the victim of depression, stress, anxiety, and even suicide. It all happens suddenly and parents hardly get the time to comprehend the situation at that time. That’s why parents need to supervise their teens and take steps beforehand to as not let the worse happen.
Tips for Parents to Protect Their Teens
Being a parent, everything about handling teens is difficult. From understanding them to making them understand, every step comes with the need for struggle. Here are a few tips that can help you make this process easy and protect them at the same time.
Monitoring Digital Activities Through Parental Control Apps
Monitoring the digital activities of your kid is the first and foremost priority to supervise your teens for their protection. You don’t know what they posted online today, to whom are they talking, or where are they going after school. Any parent would be scared about their kids’ safety if they don’t have this information. Parental control software like Secureteen, Mobistealth, Spyzie, MMGuardian, Screen Time, and many more can offer a variety of features to ensure your teen’s safety.
These apps let you track their location, know their activities, restrict some websites and apps, and much more. You can have full access to your teens’ phones and supervise your teens through these apps
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Communication is the Key
Don’t forget, they are human beings, not robots. You cannot just restrict them and control them without getting their consent. Before monitoring them, know them first. Know their priorities and personalities. Have decent conversations with them where they are completely allowed to share their opinions and thoughts. Eat together as much as possible and bring a positive environment to the home.
Set Rules and Make Your Expectations Clear
Your teens must know what you are expecting from them. Most of parents build up many expectations and when teens fail to fulfill them, they become rude. To avoid this, make some rules about everything important especially the use of phones and social media, and have everyone sit with you when you make them.
Considering their age limit, and their mental health, make some basic rules about screen time and the use of social media. Tell them why you made them and what will happen if they don’t follow. Your priority should get them to realize how important it is to follow the house rules. Tell them why they need to restrict their use of social media.
Privacy Matters for Them
Before you jump in their social media lives and interfere continuously, understand that privacy is teens’ biggest concern these days. You might be drifting them away by interfering in everything they do. Monitoring, if done with the right approach, can be proven to be very beneficial.
They don’t like it when you breach their privacy any time anywhere for no justifiable reason. For this, you need to check up now and then but don’t interfere in their lives too much. You will know when it is time to interfere or help them. It is better to have a relationship where they are encouraged to share their lives with you. That would be your biggest achievement.
Smart parenting is all about understanding your teens, sharing with them, and using parental control apps the right way. Everyone makes mistakes, don’t go hard on yourself if you have made one by pushing them away. There is always time to bring them back and love them.
Reference Articles:
- https://raisingchildren.net.au/pre-teens/communicating-relationships/family-relationships/privacy-trust-teen-years
- https://www.verywellfamily.com/startling-facts-about-todays-teenagers-2608914
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