Is your kid’s grade falling? Is your child seem too distracted nowadays? With smartphones becoming that one device almost every teen has in their possession, these questions have become more common. Some worried parents have used child cell phone monitoring software as a result.
It is alarmingly true, how early kids nowadays first lay their hands on a mobile. As a way to distract their kids from their incessant crying, many times parents have started giving mobiles to their kids.
While this is beneficial in the short run, in the long run, it can cause some dangerous consequences. The use of smart-phone has gained astronomical numbers.
Over 1.8 billion people own a smartphone in today’s time.
Due to a number of reasons in how society is changing, that usage has passed down to the youngest on earth to a worrying extent. This has truly created an epidemic basically where everyone is glued to their smartphones soft glow.
Countries like Britain show that by the age of 11, 70% and by 14, 90% of kids own a smartphone. To top that, there are many places around the world where kids as early as 2 have moderate knowledge of running a tablet, and by 4 around 90% of these kids are seriously addicted.
These are scary scenarios. It is almost guaranteed that if you go to any playground in the 21st century you can observe kids plainly staring at the mobile like zombie stares into nothing. This is not the behavior one expects from kids who are in the initial years of their life excited and curious to know, and do things.
In these situations, a lot of parents turn to child cell phone monitoring by various means. Internet and then the apps have given parents a lot of anxious moments as to what their kids might be exposed to.
Children of Elementary school beg their elders to let them have a smart-phone before even knowing how to tie a shoelace. These are having dangerous consequences on overall child growth.
While there are some benefits are getting from the use of technology and the generation is smarter in many ways. One thing that can’t be discounted however are the negative consequences on families and children. Keep reading below.
Smartphones have brought the world closer but then like with everything, there is a whole laundry list of negatives that come with it. The importance of understanding these negatives becomes very important in the process to find a solution.
1. Effects on Brain
A recent survey in the USA by the National Institute of Health based on the preliminary data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development showed some distressing results. MRI clearly showed kids having an excess of 2 hour screen time had lower thinking and language test scores.
Brain scans showed that there was a premature thinning effect of the cortex, responsible for neural and voluntary skills in our brain. There is no definite conclusion if increased screen time is solely responsible, but it is true that as screen time is going up the thinning which is supposed to happen much later is happening at quite an early stage.
2. Children Parent Relationships
Mobiles have rapidly changed children — parent relationships forever. Parent’s touch, voice and how they play with their kids help build a child’s emotional center. It is key to their learning process and how they emotionally bond with other people.
The children who interact with a screen mostly see another reaction though. Their mental pathways are different and it negatively affects their concentration and self-esteem. It is a result of the lack of personal touch in their relationships.
Such parents often take the help of cell phone spy software to at least be aware of the kind of content kids see. Though their usage depends upon the parent to parent and how they view technology use on personal relationships.
Also Read: How can I Track My Wife’s Mobile Phone Without Her Knowing
3. Causes Obesity
The rising obesity in teenagers and young kids is something that every person today is well aware of. Technological advancements have for sure brought wonders of the world to our doorsteps but they haven’t been alone.
With it are side effects of a sedentary lifestyle and obvious lower levels of physical activity. They exercise less, play less but the food intake, for the most part, has not reduced. So, kids nowadays are eating the kind of food earlier kids had on a much less active lifestyle.
4. Behavioral Problems
While technology has solved many of our daily life problems, it has also created a bunch of new problems for us. One of them is the adverse effect technology has on behavioral patterns, especially kids.
Kids are at an early stage of their lives and are developing their emotional, and mental skills which are disrupted by fast-paced technology delivering everything with minimal wait. This lack of wait in the deliverance of information and products, etc have created a generation that has almost no patience for anything.
Psychologist Jim Taylor emphasizes the problem by explaining that, “Voice inflection, body language, facial expressions and feel hormones (released during face to face interaction) are missing in today’s kids and thus they lack basic communication skills. Communication is not just about words.”
5. Sleeping Problems
Having a mobile by your side and its light illuminating the bed before going to sleep is not a healthy sign. The sad reality is that this has become a common them across bedrooms of many teenagers and kids around the world.
Some parents do end up using cell phone monitoring software for parents and try to limit their kid’s screen time, but not everyone agrees. What nobody disagrees with is how excessive mobile usage has caused sleeping problems in the young.
Sleep deprivation causes various mental and physical health problems in kids. It has resulted in falling grades, and reduced cognitive and emotional skills.
Managing your child’s smartphone addiction and how to keep it under control is a big concern for every parent. Let’s go through some of the methods certified by experts in bringing some positive changes.
1. Set Limits
Kid’s react positively to already established notions and limits that parents set in place for them. It is the sudden changes that can cause some chaos and problems.
The kids should early on realize that there are strict and clear boundaries for everything. Whether it is for mobile use, video games or any other technology use. It teaches them discipline, the importance of time management and how to set priorities early in life. Some parents have been known to use cell phone spy software to ensure the timings by keeping a close eye.
2. Technology-Breaks
The personal touch and the joy of face to face conversation are things that the new generation is slowly drifting away from. This is worrying. These things that may appear minor are very important and as such regular breaks from the use of all these gadgets is a must have.
Family time every day and especially weekends can’t be sacrificed for frivolous mobile usage. These breaks can be made attractive with fun family or friends activities.
3. Digital Free Zones
Establishing digital-free zones is another healthy trend, thankfully that is catching up and the reasons are obvious. Mobiles sometimes intrude some very personal spaces and times, like dining tables for example.
As such if there are no gadgets zone, then kids will learn the benefit of personal time and breaks from technology. There is cell phone monitoring software for parents is used in some cases to ensure these zones are complied with.
4. Set An Example
Kids mostly learn from examples and parents are the first set of people they look up to for behavior examples. Parents have an opportunity to set a healthy example in the house for all the kids to follow. As is seen in many cases, kids rebuke to gadgets use is followed by finger pointing at parents who preach what they don’t follow.
If the above-written steps don’t completely solve the problem then using cell phone spy software is an option that is gaining in trend in the recent past. Let’s go through some reasons why you may need one too.
Also Read: 3 Best ways to Track Someone social chats
Why Need Spy Software?
In these stressing times of technological addiction, cell phone monitoring app for parentscan be a worthy idea for the reasons written below:
1. These spy software’s allow you the opportunity to not just discreetly but remotely spy on your child’s mobile. As always standing over their shoulders will annoy them and is almost impossible to do beyond a few minutes.
2. These apps give you live screen-shots of their mobile activities directly to a central console for parent’s comfort.
3. You will get browser history and know If there are some problematic content you need to put in parental control.
4. Their text and call info will reveal if they are in touch with the wrong side of the crowd of society.
Best Child Monitoring Software
Let’s take you through the list of the best child cell phone monitoring software that anxious parents can take advantage of.
1. Spymaster Pro
It is one of the best-rated cell phone monitoring software for parentsin the market by many experts and user forums. It is not just a trustworthy option for the parents who want to keep their kids safe, it is also highly easy to operate and you don’t even need to know much about technology to work on it, unlike most of the competition.
It is quite affordable also and the pricing plans are quite simple too. It is available for 4.99$ and 5.99$ per month for basic and Premium Android. For the iPhone, it is just 7.99$ per month. It is compatible with all the latest mobiles and Android, and iOS versions. Customer also gets 24*7 customer support in multiple languages.
2. iSpyoo
Many employees and families use this app as it offers 3 devices with one package, seriously ignoring some glaring shortcomings. The pricing plans also go up from 19.99$ per month to, 23.99$ per month, and 25.99$ per month for basic, premium, and gold packages. Plus, it forces you to jailbreak your iPhone. The compatibility is also limited for many devices.
3. StealthGenie
This mobile spying app will let you monitor iOS and Android with decent pricing points at 8$ and 16$ per month. That hides a few facts though that it’s Android and iPhone compatibility list has not been updated for a long time.
4. PhoneSheriff
PhoneSheriff had started as a cell phone monitoring software for parents though there is one big flaw. It is not a discreet software as it will notify the target or the child that the mobile is being monitored by their parent. You can monitor 3 devices for 49$ for 6 months and 89$ for 6 months but the process is very cumbersome. Plus, the compatibility process is very slow.
5. HighsterMobile
It is quite attractive for many parents as it comes with a one-time payment of 69$. Every discount obviously comes with a negative point and that point is that it is one of the most basic mobile spy software in the market. Plus, the smartphone compatibility list on Android and iOS is seriously outdated.
Conclusion: Mobile addiction in kids is a serious issue and one that has gained epidemic proportions. It can’t be ignored like a brief phase. Serious damages are being seen in kids. Hence, using child cell phone monitoring software for kids could be an effective solution.
