No doubt, the Internet is an extremely useful tool for adults and kids alike. It can help your little one develop communication skills, broaden the mind, start thinking critically and many other benefits. But all those advantages can be easily marred by the following serious Internet dangers:
Cyberbullying
The Internet offers the most convenient and quick way of communication. Yet, instant messaging, forums, chat rooms, and social networking websites can also bring a form of trouble to your kid - cyberbullying.
Actually, cyberbullying is more dangerous than school bullying because teachers or school psychologists can't intervene on the Net. When it happens in a schoolyard or in a classroom, teachers can prevent and stop bullying. But things are different when it comes to online chatting - there's no adult to filter it.
Moreover, cyberbullies don't witness a victim’s' reactions and they don't see him/her crying. That’s why it’s easier for them to continue bullying. Also, cyberbullies can send humiliating videos and photos of the teens they dislike.
Chatting with Strangers
The online world opens tons of new possibilities. Kids can find friends all across the globe and learn new languages, share their cultural peculiarities, and more. Not to mention, Internet access is a real salvation for overly shy children. It helps them become more sociable and self-confident.
However, at the same time, the Internet opens the door for trusting virtual strangers and predators - the people they'd normally avoid in real life. It’s a mind-boggling fact that about 1 in 7 kids has been sexually solicited online.
Sexual predators usually target kids in chat rooms and then migrate to wherever they go online, including social media profiles that typically include photos, personal interests, blogs, and other information. For example, predators can find out where a child studies and then accidentally meet a kid in the schoolyard and try to become friends. Crafty predators often feign interest in a kid's favorite bands, TV shows, or hobbies. That is to say, they come across to adolescents as their new best friend with the same likes and dislikes.
Prohibited Content
One of the worst hazards of the Web is the pornography media that can suddenly pop up and surprise your children. These images may trick teenagers into clicking on malicious links and attachments. Also, they may be snared by malicious sexual text messages. Phishing photos and smishing text may pop up at any time - and the cybercriminals might gather information about your kid (email addresses, phone numbers, date of birth, friends' names, etc). Later, they will be able to use this info in their scams.
Plus, many parents may not realize that some teens are seeking out web porn by themselves too. Afterward, they can simply delete the browser history, and you’ll never know about it.
Broken Privacy
Camera phones and web cams are just everywhere these days, so children can become victims of their own inexperience with new technologies. Many of them post photos, videos, or notes on the websites and later regret it. In other words, everything you post is going to be up there forever - the Internet doesn’t have a delete key. And most teenagers don’t think about how a university committee, future boss, or a future spouse will respond to "amusing" images or other shocking content that they have posted to websites.
Actually, online reputation is a big concern nowadays. Many high schools and employers reject young people for their programs, jobs internships, and college admissions after checking out the applicants’ social media profiles.
Online Gaming Addiction
Another common problem parents all over the world face is game addiction. Teens spend long hours online, thus, being out of touch with the real world. The fact that online games often have a chat component also poses some risks. Kids don’t know the people they are talking to, so they can be easily exposed to inappropriate conversations. Or, even worse, redirected to inappropriate content on the Net.
Take note that some mobile gaming apps utilize the phone’s GPS during gameplay, allowing other users to see your location.
Unfortunately, these are the aspects that only scratch the surface of how dangerous the Internet can be for kids and teenagers. However, there is something you can do to minimize the potential risks of the Net.
What is Parental Control Software?
Parental control software may be an answer to all your prayers, i.e., fears concerned with online access. Even if you've talked to your children about screen-time limits and responsible online behavior, it's still better to be on guard. And a parental control tool is the best way to make your child’s Internet experience safe and productive. It can help you manage what your kids do when you're not there.
Currently, the market is full of parental control tools. They can be offered by computer operating systems by default, internet service providers, social network websites, search engines, games consoles, mobile app creators, and more. Parental control softwares also offer different functions including:
- Setting time limits on accessing the Internet;
- Blocking games and websites your kid can access;
- Prevent teens from using specific programs;
- Limit the content children can search online;
- Filter access to specific words, images, and videos;
- Block outgoing content, thus preventing your little wonders from sharing personal information;
- Alert parents to their kids’ suspicious online activities;
- Record which sites a child has visited (even with the deleted history).
Importantly, you can also find software for your child’s best friend - the mobile phone. Currently, there are many spy apps available on the market. And if you’d like to protect your kid from the hidden hazards of smartphone use, here is the best program for you.
mSpy is one of the most trustworthy safety tools you can find out there. It has been thoroughly developed by a powerful team of specialists to bring the ultimate kids’ protection to the table.
In brief, this smart parental control app provides the most accurate data about your children’s online activity and location. It offers numerous monitoring features allowing you to be aware of every single aspect of your child’s online activities. Moreover, it lets you block any action you find disapproving.
mSpy can be installed on iPhones, iPads, and Android devices. After being set up, the app starts functioning in a background mode, so your kid never knows about the spy program on his or her phone. Its icon is invisible and it doesn’t interfere with the functionality of the smartphone.
In a word, the mSpy app accumulates all the important data from your child’s device and displays it on your Parent Dashboard that is easily accessible from any Internet browser. So, let’s take a closer look at all the features the mSpy app has in store.
With the help of the mSpy mobile software, adults can keep a close look at all the information that is sent/received from their kid’s device. To be more precise, you can check every message, image, or video shared by your kids. The Parent Control dashboard also shows with whom your kids are interacting.
The app tracks many online messaging apps including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, iMessage, Viber, Skype, Telegram, Hangout, Tinder, Instagram, etc. And even though some of these apps like Snapchat delete the messages within seconds, the mSpy app captures all the data including multimedia files. Unbelievable, but even deleted messages are saved with the exact time and date.
To recap, the mSpy software can help you get insights into your child’s interaction with others. This way, you’ll be able to find out whether there is bullying in their life. Also, you’ll be able to know who is calling your kids and who is disturbing them with obsessive calls. Moreover, you’ll get the opportunity to block certain numbers in the phone book of your child.
When you monitor every single call and outgoing/incoming text, you can really prevent any sort of bullying, cybercrimes, and sexting. In addition to that, you’ll identify whether your child’s social skills are deviant or not.
Another very important feature of mSpy is helping parents track the location of their children. The app sends the child’s geo-location with actual timestamps. So, if you get overly anxious as soon as your kid goes out, the mSpy app will rid you of this fear.
The app can also provide the history of your kid’s routes taken for a specific period of time. With the exact address and time, in fact. This way, you’ll closely monitor the timings and frequency of visiting specific places.
In addition, mSpy allows you to take advantage of the Geo-fencing function. You can set limitations or boundaries around those places where your kids usually go and if they cross those boundaries, the app will immediately send alerts to you.
One more privilege is that mSpy allows you to keep track of all the apps on your kid’s mobile device. As a nifty feature, you can even check the details like the version and the time of installation.
Owing to the "Block App" option, you can block a particular app if you think it’s inappropriate for your little one. And with the help of the Keylogger feature, parents are able to track what is being typed by their kids on their smartphones or tablets.
As mentioned, the mSpy parental control app gets full access to the address book from your kid’s device. The information includes the names, phone numbers and even in which categories they are saved. If you find suspicious contacts, you can easily block them.
Another perk of mSpy is that it can send you notification alerts on calendar activities. Hence, you can view all the activities in your kid’s phone calendar.
Lastly, we would like to emphasize that mSpy gives you a fantastic opportunity to monitor all the websites visited by your children on the web. So, if you fear that your little one is unable to differentiate between bad and good Internet content, this function will be especially useful for you. Never ever will your kid get into a dangerous cyber situation.
mSpy offers quite flexible subscription options. You can get the Basic package for $29.99 per month or a Premium plan that will cost you $199.99 per year (approximately $16.66 per month). The safety of your kids has never been so easy!