Almost every teenager enjoys the privileges of the Internet these days, considering the fact that our lives have absolutely become tech-influenced. With the progression of technology, the potential risks of technology have also increased.
Ever heard of the word ‘online’ predators? These can be extremely dangerous people who usually target teenagers as their victims. Such criminal minded people can be sexual abusers who use digital media to hunt their victims. For parents, it has become extremely important to understand the risks such online predators can cause to their children.
Online Sex Offenders and Risks to Children
Remember that any child can be a potential victim for online predators. Therefore, never ignore the risks which the Internet can bring to your child. It is of utmost importance to comprehend that what factors can make a child be at high risk.
Following are the points which usually online predators see in their victims.
- In most of the cases, the victims are young in age, usually ranging from 11 to 16 years of age.
- Children who face issues in maintaining a healthy relationship with their family members. It can include children who belong from broken families and search for love and a sense of belonging while interacting with other people.
- A person who talks to strangers online for the sake of finding a companion.
- A teenager who puts up most of his/her personal details on the online forums.
These are the characteristics which can make a child vulnerable in front of online predators. Children cannot be blamed in any case. These criminal minded people are highly manipulative and lure kids by building a trustful and friendly relationship with them. These relationships usually end up being the sexual exploitation for kids.
What can Parents Do?
Parents need to encourage an open communication with their kids. Explain your child the dangers associated with the use of the Internet. Don’t leave your younger children unsupervised when they are using electronic gadgets.
Parents need to monitor the activities of their older kids using the parental control apps. Since every teenager owns a cell phone these days, therefore, installing a parental control app on your child’s mobile device is for your child’s safety and best interest. Parental control apps such as FamilyTime allows parents to monitor the browsing history and text messages on their teen’s cell phone. There are various features provided by FamilyTime.
The additional steps which parents need to take are as follows:
- Make sure you only allow your children to use the screen for a limited period of time in a day.
- Talk to your teenager about topics like online predators, sexting, pornography and cyber bullying. Encourage your child to come to you in the case of any uncomfortable incident.
- Teach your child to stop communication immediately if they notice any offensive or sexual involvement by the other person.
- Ask your children to use privacy settings on their social accounts. Also, make your child change his/her password every once in a while. Many blackmailers hack children’s accounts and start harassing them on the basis of the pictures and information, obtained from the hacked accounts.
Luckily, all this can be done efficiently with the kind assistance of parental control apps. With the FamilyTime app in hand, you can:
- Have a look at the contacts of your teens
- See whom do they contact via calls or SMS by monitoring their call logs and SMS history.
- Watchlist suspicious contacts and receive notifications when the contact is made.
- Monitor web history to see the URLs they visit with the date and time stamps.
- See bookmarks and favorites to keep tabs on their web preferences.
- Apply internet filters to restrict teens from using chatting sites
- View the complete list of apps installed on their device
- Check App usage frequency to analyze the time they spend on each application.
- Limit app usage time by allocating specific number of minutes to kids for app usage
- Block apps to restrict their access to the apps you find inappropriate.
- Put auto screen locks on their devices for a specific time interval.
- Remotely lock their phone to limit access to their device whenever you want.
So, use the app now and ensure your kids’ safety. Happy parenting!
You must be logged in to post a comment.