IT Security Tips for Keeping Kids Safe Online in 2015

Featured article written by Rawdon Messenger, Chief Executive Officer, TeenSafe

Social media — and the way teens use it — is changing quickly. Parents can’t be expected to keep up, even as they’re expected to keep their kids safe online. From Yik Yak to Medium to Tumblr, social media and smartphone apps have evolved far beyond facebook.

Instagram is where they spend most of their time because the content is better, photo tagging is more private and, most importantly, mom and dad are nowhere to be found. Snapchat is quickly gaining ground, Tumblr is where they go to be themselves, Twitter doesn’t make any sense to them and Facebook is nothing but “an awkward family dinner party we can’t really leave.”

2015 won’t bring a safer or more secure Internet — and it certainly won’t give your teenager a new appreciation for consequences, a sudden epiphany about the permanence of the web or a magically improved sense of judgement. So how do you protect your kids from the dangers of the Internet’s dark side in the new year?

Talk to Your Teen

From prominent tech bloggers to religious groups to the FBI, virtually all experts agree that dialogue is the single most potent weapon parents have to protect their teens online. Explain your concerns to your teen and let them know they can talk to you if there is an incident or problem.

Many teens report letting problems fester because they were afraid they would get in trouble if they spoke up about using poor judgment online. Reiterate the permanence of the Internet, and that they should never send a picture or message that they wouldn’t want the whole school to see.

Get Yourself Up to Speed

Make sure you understand Internet safety yourself. Do your homework, not just about the obvious things like the dangers of talking to strangers in chat rooms, but about the ways advertisers target users based on their browsing habits. Investigate age-appropriate social-media sites and set ground rules that are firm, but flexible enough to change with time and technology.

Apps and Other Software: Use Teen-Focused Tech

2015 is already providing parents technological tools that can help them keep up with the ever-expanding web of connectivity that envelops the daily lives of their teenagers. Play it safe and keep track of your teens and their online lives in 2015 with these standout apps:

Teensafe: The Ultimate Monitoring App

Teensafe is a monitoring app that lets parents keep a close eye on virtually every aspect of their teen’s activity online and on the phone. It works with tablets and smartphones, both Android and iOS. Parents can monitor their teen’s incoming, outgoing and deleted texts and iMessages. They can view call logs, as well as call durations and times. It monitors the teen’s physical location, as well as their Web browsing history. Parents can use Teensafe to monitor their child’s social-media activity both on Instagram and Facebook, including their news feeds and private messages. Teensafe runs discreetly in the background, meaning that they won’t know that Teensafe is active on their phone unless their parent chooses to tell them.

Canary: Keep Them Safe Behind the Wheel

Motor vehicle accidents are the most lethal and immediate threat facing teenagers today — and distracted driving is the new drunk driving. Canary is an app that gives parents peace of mind when their teen is behind the wheel. Canary alerts parents when their new driver is texting, talking or doing anything else behind the wheel. Parents can set maximum speed limits and receive a notification when their teen goes any faster. The app lets parents set a perimeter that their teen must stay within, and they’ll know right away when they go outside of their predetermined zone. Parents can also monitor road and weather conditions, and designate family members for emergency alerts.

Anti-Social: Eliminate Digital Distractions

Anti-Social stands out for its simplicity. In a world of apps meant to protect kids from dangerous people and unseemly content lurking on the dark side of the Internet, Anti-Social has just one purpose: to increase your teen’s productivity by targeting and blocking sites that steal their time when they’re supposed to be getting things done. If homework time is interrupted by Facebook, for example, Anti-Social can block that site for as long as the parent wants. Anti-Social identifies your teen’s biggest digital distractions and temporarily eliminates them without making any permanent changes to the host computer.

Child ID: An App Straight from the FBI

This is an app you don’t want to think about ever needing. But in the case that your child disappears, Child ID — the first app ever released by the FBI — gives America’s federal law enforcement agency a huge head start in finding him or her. By storing photos and other vital information about your child in the app, a click of a button can transmit that packet of crucial data directly to the FBI and local police officers working the case. It’s not an app you like to think about ever needing, but if the unthinkable happens, Child ID may save you precious time when seconds count, all while giving the good guys the tools they need.

Sex Offenders Search

Sex Offenders Search lets parents use their smartphone’s GPS to locate registered sex offenders wherever they go — and wherever their teenager goes. They can search the National Sex Offenders registry by name, address or zip code to find details like the offender’s name, location or the details of their crime.

Most of these apps offer a free trial period that allows parents to try before they commit, or allow users to cancel at any time. It is legal for parents to clandestinely monitor the phones and computers of their minor children, as long as they are the ones who pay the bill on the phone, tablet or computer that is being monitored.

Every child is different and requires different levels of supervision. These apps put the control in the hands of the parent — not the person on the other end of their child’s Internet connection. As technology evolves, be sure your family evolves with it and is taking advantage of these latest technological advancements to be used in keeping your kids – your most valuable treasure – safe and sound.

Rawdon Messenger, Chief Executive Officer, TeenSafe

Rawdon Messenger began his career in 1997 at the London Stock Exchange as a compliance administrator and later transitioned to the Associated Newspapers, UK, as a technology and business journalist and computing columnist for the London Evening Standard Newspaper. From there he joined Mexico’s second largest internet service provider, Todito Card. In 2005, Messenger joined TV Azteca and was promoted to Vice President of Media and Product Integration at Azteca América. Before transitioning to TeenSafe, he held a position as the strategy and innovation director for Iusacell, the third largest cellular telecommunications company in Mexico. Messenger graduated with honors from the University of Manchester in 1997 and was recognized as an Economic and Social Research Council Scholar while earning his Masters of Science degree in business systems analysis and design from the City University in London in 1999.