10 Reasons to Monitor Your Kids' Smartphone and Online Activity

While giving your kids the freedom and privacy they deserve is essential, keeping them safe when they go online is much more important. So, why should parents monitor their children's phones? Keep on reading to find out!

1. Increasing their cybersecurity

Cybercriminals’ favorite method of spreading malware is to embed it in inconspicuous websites and applications and wait for unsuspecting victims to download it. 

Younger children are often fooled by these legitimate-looking sites and visit them, after which they end up infecting their devices with all sorts of malware.

However, antimalware software doesn’t always help, so parents should teach their children how to recognize shady sites and keep an eye on them to ensure they avoid such links.

2. Protecting their personal data

Identity theft is on the rise, especially in the U.S., and children are the new favorite target group of identity thieves since they have no established credit. Therefore, ensuring kids do not overshare their data on social media is essential for their well-being.

Such protection is absolutely necessary since your children’s personal information, along with images, everyday practices, and location data, can be misused by other, more serious criminals, such as kidnappers and online predators.

3. Reducing instances of cyberbullying

No child is ever prepared for bullying, which has taken a more pervasive form nowadays as cyberbullying. Unfortunately, technology puts kids at an increased risk of becoming victims of cyberbullies or even resorting to such actions themselves.

So, to make certain your child is not the sender or recipient of mean messages, hateful comments, or even more serious threats, you should monitor their social media usage. Otherwise, you’ll notice a decline in their mood and mental health.

4. Preserving their mental well-being

Adding to the previous benefit, the most important reason why children should enjoy reduced screen time is to preserve their overall happiness and well-being.

While depression is a common side effect of excessive phone usage, self-harm and suicidal thoughts are also rising among young people.

Online behavior, including peer competition, exclusion from social activities, and group bullying, have been known to cause great distress and lead to regrettable actions.

5. Controlling their dark web usage

The dark web is the deepest and most dangerous place on the internet, not just for kids, but for adults too! These unlisted web corners are a hotbed of criminal activity, including the transaction of drugs and guns, child pornography, and illegal gambling sites.

Chances are your child does not know how to access dark web portals since you need special software and network settings to do that. But you should still keep track of their activities to ensure they don’t even get close to figuring it out.

Some of the best parental control software out there also includes specific features prohibiting children from accessing the dark web and alerting the parents immediately.

6. Limiting their screen time

Sugar addiction has been replaced by dependence on screens nowadays, and as any other addiction, it introduces several detrimental effects.

For instance, children who stay glued to their screens for the major part of the day impair their social skills at the least and develop several health issues at the most, such as eye problems, depression, weight gain, and problems sleeping.

7. Avoiding sketchy apps

Some apps have been designed to access and take advantage of the user’s privacy, especially if they were developed with the illicit purpose of stealing information.

Even if your child does not have any such third-party app invading their privacy, most legitimate apps are also granted too many permissions these days, which allow your child to senselessly share their photos, videos, contacts, and location information.

8. Decreasing their social media usage

The main reason why the usage of digital devices has skyrocketed in the last decade is the easy access they offer to the world’s most popular social media apps.

Due to the overuse of these apps, some children prefer to scroll for hours on end through social media feeds instead of truly socializing with their peers and family.

Unfortunately, prolonged exposure to social media and isolation from real interaction leads to anxiety, and feelings of loneliness, especially when users discover they are not welcome in their peer groups or miss out on important events.

9. Preventing sexting and porn addiction

During adolescence, teens develop sexual interests in other human beings—a process that is often rushed and perverted by technology.

Such unnatural development can result in unhealthy sexual behavior, including excessive usage of porn sites, which are nowadays readily available, and sexting with their peers, which often affects the person’s mental health and future relationships.

The best way to prevent kids from visiting these types of websites is to set up good monitoring software that filters what they see, but snooping on their interactions is the only way to check whether or not they engage in risqué behavior.

10. Keeping them away from violence

Violence is glorified across all popular forms of media nowadays, and like it or not, it affects everyone, especially children during their early childhood.

To reduce exposure to violence, popular media sites offer parental control features that filter violent content. However, even if you activate such an option, your child may be able to access other violent games, films, and music.

Therefore, monitoring their activities is the only way to ensure they stay away from such abusive, horrific, and/or disturbing subject matters.

Bottom Line

While your children say they are using the internet only to play games, stay in touch with their friends, and do their homework, they may also be exposing themselves to various dangers, whether on purpose or by accident. For that reason, monitoring your kids’ smartphones is necessary until you teach them about responsible digital citizenship and good cybersecurity practices, which will help them stay safe online at all times.