Since cell phones are pretty much in our every day life, of course children will want their own phone to send and receive message to their friends. There is no problem with this if you feel your child is responsible but you’re worried, you can still have the authority to monitor their text messages. Text message monitoring does not make you the bad guy, its actually a helpful cause especially if you think your child is being bullied over texts or sending inappropriate things. Keep these tips in mind if you’re looking to monitor their messages.
Talk With Your Child
You will need to talk it out before deciding to do this. You’ll need their permission first and let them know that you don’t want to be too controlling over them. Many children, especially older, like a small bit of freedom so let them know that you won’t be hanging over their shoulder. Use this time as an opportunity to communicate with your child about safety and that you are merely just looking out for them. You can easily bond with them over silly stories about texts and make them feel comfortable about you being a monitor.
Contact Your Phone Company
If you’re a little worried in a behavior change you have seen in your child, you can call your cell phone company and ask for a list of recent text messages from their phone. You should also not feel guilty about doing this, since you are the parent and it is your responsibility for keeping your child safe and protected. Obtaining these text transcripts should be a last resort.
Use Text Message Monitoring Software
In the digital age, it is crucial to monitor your child's text messages. A monitoring service like uKnowKids will enable you to monitor you child's text messages and social media interactions. You can search through your son or daughter’s texts, reveive alerts and get inside on how their are using their phone. In addition to keeping track of texts you can also check what they are doing with their mobile apps such as Instagram photos, Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace.
