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Tracking Your Kids Through Mobile Phones

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Equipping your children with mobile phones may sound extravagant. After all, does a child in elementary or middle school really need to return important calls on the go? Probably not, but that child may need quick access to you. That’s why many parents choose to give their children cell phones.

While your Android tablet may offer many conveniences and be an essential part of your routine, your child doesn’t need a device with that much functionality. A simple cell phone can make life easier and safer for your kids.

Sometimes after-school activities get canceled or moved to a different location. Kids with cell phones don’t have to wait around for their parents to come back a couple of hours later or find a ride, both of which can be dangerous.

When your family attends a large-scale public event, it’s easy to get separated. In those cases, you can track down your children by simply dialing their cell phone numbers. This can eliminate a lot of anxiety, especially in situations where you can’t visually locate your children right away.

Cell phones are also great tools when the family visits a museum, county fair, or theme park. When kids get stuck in line at a ride and choose not to meet their parents at the designated time and place, they can simply call their parents to let them know where they are.

One of the most important things to remember when using cell phones to communicate with your kids is that they only work when they’re turned on.  If you’re in a noisy place, be sure to check the screen of your phone often for missed calls from your kids. This technology is just another way parents can keep tabs on their kids.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: , ,

Technology Out Wits Sneaky Kids, or Does It?

GPS navigation solution running on a smartphon... 

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These days there is plenty of technology to track kids. It would seem that it would be very easy to keep track of sneaky kids who might be looking to get into some mischief. The question is whether this technology works or not.  On many leves it definitely works, but in more ways than one, it may not be such a good idea. As a parent, you have to figure all of that out.

The Pros of Technology Tracking Kids

The pros are as old as parenthood. Parents want to know where their kids are and that they’re safe. Therefore, GPS tracking on cell phones works good when the phone is on and the device has a clear shot at the sky. If a kid is supposed to keep the phone on, and it gets turned off, it’s going to be tough to explain that to Mom.

As for software that tracks computer use, the many incidents involving molesters and bullying are the best reason to do this. The Internet is a dangerous place. Parents can even tell the kids they’re tracking computer usage.

The Cons of Tracking Kids with Technology

The biggest hurdle to jump is “trust.” You have to find the balance between spying and caring. Your kid won’t grow up responsibly if he isn’t give the chance to try. Again, make sure he knows it’s for his safety.

Where GPS tracking is concerned, there are still some problems with accuracy. That could scare a parent and get a kid in unfair trouble. The old fashioned phone call to check in is still the best tracking tool for kids.

Filed Under: Parenting, Technology Tagged With: , ,

Monitoring Your Teen’s Cell Phone Use

Angel with mobile phone 

Image by Meneer De Braker (Akbar2) via Flickr

When your teen gets on the phone, who knows what they’re saying? While you can’t tap their phones to find out if they’re planning anything nefarious, you can check out who they’re calling and how long they’re spending on the phone. If they have minutes to be tended to, you can check out all of those things on your bill. Overall, monitoring your teen’s cell phone use is a fairly easy thing to do.

While your teen is downloading unlimited music, they can be talking to their friends about anything. While this can lead to a lot of possible problems, the real problems happen when they go over their minutes. In cases like that, an unlimited plan can be useful. However, you might want to actually limit the number of texts your teen can send and make them pay for any they send or look at over and above that number. While it might seem cruel, it is a good way to get your teen to think about the future and how to use resources.

Of course, making your teen actually pay can become a serious issue. After all, if he or she refuses to pay, you have to cancel their cell phone plan as a punishment, which can be a serious hindrance to a person in this day and age. “I’ll call you” has replaced almost any sort of real planning, as people tend to think only about right now and keeping in nearly constant contact through technology. But having consequences for inappropriate cell phone usage teaches powerful lessons that every teen needs to know.

Filed Under: Software, Technology Tagged With: , ,

Keeping A Track Of Your Kid’s Phone

Cell phones have become a basic necessity these days. Kids demand cell phones because of peer pressure. Flaunting latest cell phones is considered to be a style statement and a hip thing. However as a parent one needs to be ultra aware about the way your kid is using his or her cell phone. It is important to check that your kid is not receiving or sending any lewd messages.

Companies understand this innate need of tracking your teenager’s activities without their knowledge. Hence technology has developed various devices and softwares that can be installed in your kids’ phone without their knowledge. There are softwares that help you to track your teen’s calls and messages. You can also screen their calls and messages. There are certain other features that you can activate via the spy softwares. Some advanced softwares send you a copy of the message that your teen receives and sends. It also gives a report about frequently dialed numbers and the conversation timings. These all features help you to be vigilant about your kid’s behavior without letting them know. These devices are a boon to parents. Existence of these devices has taken off the worry from the parents head about their kid’s messaging and call taking trends.

It is good idea to handle the issue of inappropriate messages and calls with your teen very tactfully. You do not want to be loggerheads with your teen and spoil your relationship at the same time; you may not want to ignore such behavior. It is important to nip such behavior in the bud, so that it does not snowball into something big. It is important to be vigilant all the times.

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: , ,

Importance Of Keeping A Track Of Your Child

News papers and news channels carry reports of abduction, rape, murder etc on everyday basis. The growing crime rate has made it very important for parents to keep a track of their child. No one wants their child to be abducted by some stranger for money. Parents train their children in order to avoid such mishaps. Children are taught not to accept any eatables from strangers or not to give any information to strangers. Many parents instruct their kids to steer clear of strangers totally.

These are some preventive measures for the older kids, however how would one track their kid in a mall when they are busy shopping? Companies have come up with different solutions for this. The simplest solution to keep a track of your toddlers from running away is the leash. A leash has a small opening that needs to be worn around the mother’s wrist and the other end is tied around the kid’s waist. Your toddler can roam around freely up to a specific distance that is set on the leash, after that it just feels tugged if it tries to cross the specified boundary.

Another solution offered by the manufacturers is the tracking bad. This band needs to be worn by the kid around his wrist. This band works on the GPS navigation technology. Parents can track the real-time location of their kid. This is especially important for youngsters because they tend to evade the restrictions and venture out to forbidden places. This is an ideal way of checking if the information relayed by your kid is correct or not. However many kids would take off the bands or switch off the system and make it impossible to track them, now this GPS navigation facility is available in cell phones. You can track your kid’s whereabouts through the hidden application in their cell phone.

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: , ,

Does Your Child Need a Cell Phone?

Have you noticed how cell phones have become one of the modern status symbols? The fancier the phone, with more apps, whistles and bells, means the owner must be more important as well. Not only is this happening with us as adults, but with our kids as well. It seems like every month the average age for having a cell phone drops.

Many parents try and put off buying their child a cell phone for as long as possible. Understandably, they don’t want their children spending the whole day texting their friends, instead of doing their schoolwork. They want to, and should, control their children’s access to the telephone; who they call, how much they talk, and when they talk as well.

With some of the phones designed especially for kids, parents can let their children have a phone, and control how it’s used as well. The control comes in the form of programming the numbers that the child can speed-dial. If the parent doesn’t program the number in, the child can’t call them. On the other hand, they can call the people who the parents want to allow them access to call; people such as grandparents, teachers, siblings and most important the parents themselves.

This can be a great aid when going shopping with your kids. Typically, it’s almost impossible to keep a family together in the mall, or even a large department store. Your kids don’t want to stay there with you, while you’re trying on shoes.

Okay, so if they go running off in the mall, how do you find them again? Simple, call them on their cell phone. I’m not saying you should get them a cell phone for them, but for your convenience. It gives you are ready, easy way of maintaining contact with your children, and making sure that they aren’t getting in trouble.

Filed Under: Parenting, Security Tagged With: , ,

New Products That Help You Monitor Your Children

You probably remember being a kid and getting in trouble for coming home late for dinner because you were busy playing baseball or hop scotch with your best friends.  Besides maybe calling a few neighbors, your parents had no other way to find you.  They had to wait for you to come home and then punish you.  Thanks to modern technology, you can now track your own children with ease.

GPS Cell Phone Trackers

One of the most popular and common ways to track your child is by using the GPS cell phone tracker.  Once you activate this service, you can always know what radius your child is in as long as their cell phone is kept on.  Depending on what you are willing to spend, some trackers will pin point exactly where your child is while others will bring you within a half mile.  Either way you will have an easier time searching the neighborhood than your own parents did.

Car Trackers

Your teen will get excited the first time you give them the keys to the family car.  However, they better not go to a concert when they tell you that they are going down the road for a pizza with their friends.  Using car tracking GPS tools you can tell if your teen is lying about how far away from the house they are.  The device will track how many miles the car has gone.  You can use this data to tell if your teen is lying to you.  Some devices can even let you know if your teenager has been in an accident or was speeding.

It is imperative for parents and children to form a bond of trust, but every young person will go through a phase where they test the waters and try to get around their parent’s rules.  If you suspect your child is doing something that is a danger to their safety, these devices can help you out.  It is important only use these items when you truly believe your child is in danger or has been on a lying spree.  GPS stalking them every time they leave the house can be unhealthy for both you and your children.

Filed Under: Security Tagged With: ,

Protecting or Spying?

Where is the line between monitoring for your child’s safety and protection and when is it spying? With all the new technology available, this question becomes more important for parents every day.

In Great Britain, a wristwatch has been created that is also a GPS Child Locator device. Using a subscription plan, the device texts an emergency message to the designated cell number when the device is removed and where it was when it was last attached to the child. You can also text any time, to find out the GPS location of your child at that moment. The feedback the company has received is about 50/50 positive and negative.

Cars can now be equipped with monitoring devices, like a black box, or even real time GPS tracking. In addition to basics, like how many miles were driven and where the care went, some programs can even tell the parent the speed the vehicle travel at during the trip.

Computers have filtering and monitoring programs that can tell parents when and where their child has been on the internet, even transcripts of chat messages.

Cell phones have GPS chips and providers offer access and locating using the chips. The drawback is that GPS works best outdoors on clear days, so it can be inaccurate indoors or in poor weather conditions.

In am emergency situation, all of these can be helpful tools to rescue your child from a dangerous situation. The keys to determining if it is too much are why you are monitoring and how you use the technology.

If you text your child’s GPS wristwatch every ½ hour to see where your child is, maybe you have gone too far. If you check your teens cell phone GPS when they miss curfew and are not answering your call or text, you are probably not crossing the line. Most of these devices can help keep you child safe, if you use them discretely and sensibly.

Filed Under: Security, Technology Tagged With: ,

Cell Phones and Kids

Many kids have ipods, cell phones, and more. In many families, these items add extra expenses to an already tight budget.

When does your child really need to have a cell phone?

The answer to this question is going to be different for every family, but if money is an issue, needing a phone, not just wanting one, is when a parent will find a way to get their child a phone. Many factors will help determine when you child actual might need to have a cell phone.

Do they talk on the phone often? Do you need to get them their own phone so you can use your phone?

Are they away from a phone or out of contact regularly? Such as playing sports, traveling with a school team or club, out with friends or dating.

Do they need to call you for rides, etc. and have to borrow or find a phone every time?

Do they have a job or drive? If they have a job, maybe they should pay for part or all of their own phone. If they drive, having a cell phone for emergencies can be a good idea, especially if they drive alone or at night.

Are they responsible enough to use it properly and no lose it?

As the price of phones becomes more and more affordable, the age of children carrying them seems to get lower. The newer, more affordable pre-paid phones offer an option for a trial period, if you are trying to decide if your child is ready to be responsible for a phone. Though, they often cost more per minute, the phones can cost as little as $10.00 and require no contract. This is a good way to start out with little investment and obligation. Since our son washed his cell phone 3 times the first month, we were glad we chose this option first.

Filed Under: Financial Advice, Technology Tagged With: ,

Electronic Child Finders May Help Save Lives

In the blink of an eye, technology changes and surprises us all. Anything that can make a parent’s job easier and make children safer is a welcome technological advancement. It is refreshing to know that there are new ways to keep kids safe. One of the newest products that many parents may find helpful are child GPS tracking devices.

There are many different types of these products on the market. Some have special receivers that can be clipped to a child’s clothing, others are inserted into the sole of their shoe, and some are embedded into cell phones. The large variety of options make it easier for a parent to choose a product that will work best for them.

Electronic child finders may help save lives because when a child is abducted, the first few minutes are the most important. When a parent looses sight of a child, the device can be activated to locate the child. The parent can follow the signal and find the child before any harm is done. If the parent is unable to locate the child, the police can then use the GPS child finding device to locate the missing child. Sometimes the shear knowledge that a child has a GPS on them will scare the abductor into letting the child go without harm, for fear of being caught by authorities.

An electronic child finder will also help in smaller emergencies, like when a child gets lost in a store or a mall. It has happened a billion times, and it will happen a billion more times. When the child has a GPS device on them, the parent can easily find the child and have a happy reunion.

Even the simple fact of owning an electronic child finder can help ease the minds of nervous parents. So go ahead, take advantage of technology, you could be saving your child’s life.

Filed Under: Protection, Security, Technology Tagged With: , ,
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