Keeping a watchful eye on the type of content children search and read on their smartphones has become a part of parenting. And why should not it be? Unfiltered phones are causing great harm to your children. Cyberbullying, offensive content, hateful messages, pornography ,etc are only tips of the iceberg posing alarming risks to your child who often surfs the Internet via a smartphone.
With the rising incidents of sexual predators preying on unsuspecting children in a number of menacing ways, the backlash against children’s smartphone use is building up. In fact, it has become a burning question if the children should be allowed to use smartphones at all. That is why parental control makes much sense to filter the content before buying your child a smartphone.
Why Are Unfiltered Content Awful for Your Child?
According to many experts, giving an iPad or iPhone to your 6-7 year child without locking it is an act of carelessness on your part. These experts have reached the opinion after evaluating a number of cases related to cybercrimes. They have reasons to believe that children are soft targets of the brains behind the filthy contents. Followings are some surprising facts that you, as parents, you should know:
- A large number of school-goers browse pornographic sites almost daily and their parents have no idea about it.
- You have gifted your son or daughter a portable X-rated movie theat without considering parental control over the content. One day, you find your child watching porn in his/her study room. Instead of scolding your child, you should own up to your responsibility for being an irresponsible parent.
- In recent times, a few students have committed suicide in different parts of the world after playing Blue Whale. It is an online game comprising a series of tasks assigned to the participants, with the higher steps instructing self-harm to the players and the last challenge requiring them to commit suicide. Many parents like you are clueless about such life-threatening online games.
- Porn is not the only harmful material available on the Internet. There are many hazardous materials that your child may watch on an unlocked smartphone away from your watchful eyes.
Different Forms of Awful Contents on Digital Media
Whenever it comes to harmful digital content, our discussion gets limited to pornography. There is no denying the fact that porn sites stoke up age-inappropriate curiosity in children. Images and videos on porn websites draw their attention to the untold and unseen physical intimacy between men and women and as a result, they get hooked to these contents just like drug-addicted people. However, pornography is only a slice of awful contents floating on the World Wide Web. Just have a look at what can cause damage to the brain of your little champ:
- It has been previously stated that Blue Whale is an online game leading to the death of many teenagers in India and other countries. This game is designed to trap the Internet-addicted and depressed teenagers and children.
- Hateful messages can also ruin your child’s life. Some people behave insanely and don’t think twice before throwing abusive words at or bullying others as little as 6-12-year children.
- Online sex rackets target not only the youth but also the children. This is because children know nothing about sex and can be easily coaxed into following others’instructions.
- Some hazardous software programs may trap your children into revealing some important information about you and others in your family. It may pose a serious threat to all of you physically and/or financially.
How to Save Your Child from Awful Content
If there is a problem, there is also a solution! As prevention is always better than cure, therefore, you should take some meaningful steps before giving a smartphone to the apple of your eye.
It is the age of digitalization and you should make your child well-informed about the latest technology. At the same time, it is also your duty to safeguard your child from accessing online porn and other content not appropriate for his/her age. Like many parents, you may have no idea about how your child is exposed to harmful content and so can take some effective measures as follows:
- Firstly, you should understand that allowing your child to access any content will actually do him/her more harm than good.
- Secondly, it is important to stay abreast of technology but that is not all. Therefore, try to inculcate in them the habit of reading books, painting, listening to music, playing outdoor games. By getting them addicted to healthier and more meaningful habits will take lion’s share of their free time and thus, save them from staying hooked to smartphones.
- Thirdly, to control what your child should watch and read on their smartphone, you should install parental control apps. It will help you monitor what your child watches on the Internet and make intent a safer space for your child.
- Lastly, with a variety of content-controlling apps available in the market, you should make a sensible decision while picking up a useful app. By installing iKeyMonitor spy app on your child’s smartphone, you can prevent your child from inappropriate content online.
Why Do You Need iKeyMonitor?
This app is programmed to protect your child from malicious content and activities online. Here are some ways how this app can protect your child from becoming prone to harmful digital content:
- The app allows you to tracks web browsing history on the target Android/iOS device.
- You will get instant notifications as soon as your child accesses unsafe websites. Furthermore, it will provide you with the necessary information about the history and location of the device used by your child.
- It lets you block specific apps and games. Your child will only be able to view those apps that you approve.
- The app allows you to check the complete list of installed apps. You can view the installation time, detect newly installed apps, and check detailed app reports.
With this app, you don’t need to peek-a-boo in his/her room every now and then to check what your child is doing on the smartphone. By loading a spy app like iKeyMonitor, you can always keep a tab on his/her activities on the Internet even when you are not at home.