Parental Monitoring in the Technology Age Part 1

I love young people. I was (and still am) one. I understand the struggles that Christian young people go through to live purely in an impure world. I have experienced those struggles first-hand. Sometimes I handled the struggles wisely and godly; some of the time, I did not. I was a teenager during the mid-to-late 90’s.  If Facebook existed, no one knew about it.  This is before cell phones were the property of 3rd graders. I got my first cell phone after I graduated high school (and it was a FLIP phone!) I did not have access to the internet at my house. I could not talk on our home phone for long because the line needed to be open with my father being a pastor. Amazingly enough, I made it! I lived without all the modern technology that our teenagers (and pre-teens) have today. If you have read many of my posts on my old blog, you know that I am not AGAINST technology…in fact, I love it! But I want to share some things that I have learned while working in the cellular industry and by understanding some internet specifics.

First and foremost, if you are a parent: I am not suggesting, nor will I suggest, that you must do all of these monitoring tips. You must stand before God for how you raise your kids. I am simply giving some information and tips that I have learned.

1. Cell Phones

With the evolution of mobile phones, a parent must treat a phone like a computer. Pornographic images can be pulled up via the mobile web just as easy, if not easier, than on a computer. “Sexting” (sending pornographic images via text/picture mail) is on the rise, especially among teenagers. With these temptations lurking on a daily basis, I have some suggestions:

Call your wireless provider, and BLOCK the internet on your child’s phone. For most providers, this will eliminate picture mail, but some providers allow pics to be sent via text messaging. If that be the case, then I would suggest BLOCKING texting as well. Also, I would suggest charging your teenager’s phone in YOUR bedroom at night instead of in their room. Many inappropriate conversations take place late at night after parents have fallen asleep. With access to their cell phones all night, kids can call whomever, whenever. I would also suggest receiving a Bill Detail instead of a Bill Overview. That way you have the ability to view each phone call that is made from each phone on your account.

2. Facebook

I am an avid user of Facebook. I love the interaction with people that I would have completely lost contact with otherwise. I do, however, realize the dangers. With child predators all over myspace, it’s only a matter of time before they invade Facebook. With that in mind, here is what I suggest:

1. Make your child’s profile private. You can do this by clicking on “privacy settings” in the settings bar in the upper-right hand corner of your home page. This will ensure that only your child’s friends can view your profile instead of those that are in their network (which could be hundreds of thousands of people). You may also remove your child’s name from any search results.

2. You (the parent) set up the mobile application for your child’s Facebook account to YOUR (the parent’s) cell phone. You may select to have every private message (which is the only thing that is truly “private”) sent to your cell phone as a text message.  This can be done through that same settings bar, then select “account settings” then “mobile.”

3. Of course, you should have your child’s password. If they have a problem with it, then they have something to hide.

4. Encourage your child to NEVER accept a friend request of someone they are not POSITIVE that they know. Whenever someone sends a friend request to you, you may view their profile page before accepting or declining their request. That way you can check that person’s info to see if you really know them or not.

This is part 1 of a 2 part post. Stay tuned for general internet filters and programs.

I trust everyone takes this as constructive. I am, in no way, trying to barge in on any parent’s duty to raise their children. Once again, I am simply giving some tips and suggestions.