On the Today Show, November 20, 2015, the discussion was whether parents should track their children on a cell phone. Savannah Guthrie said the smartest thing. She said that she would not drop off her child in a strange city in the middle of a bad neighborhood. She said internet use and cell phone use is like that in today’s world.
This Grandma totally agrees. I wish I could have tracked my children. What peace of mind. Previously, September 22, 2015, Jeff Rossen demonstrated 3 smartphone apps that can help keep your kids safe. You can watch the video here.
Here is his report as given on line on Today.com. “Last year, University of Virginia student Hannah Graham was murdered. Now three new smartphone apps are available for free download to help prevent such tragedies: Companion, Circle of 6 and LifeLine Response.”
“Companion can send a message to anyone anywhere, showing them your child’s exact location. The app uses the phone’s motion sensors to send an alert if the user starts running, drops the phone, or has his or her headphones yanked out.”
“Circle of 6 goes even further, beaming the location of the phone’s user to six people at a time if the user is in trouble.”
“LifeLine Response not only tracks a phone user, but will even call the police instantly if the user’s thumb is removed from the screen.”
“All three apps are available free in the app store. LifeLine Response gives you 30 days free, then charges $4.99 per month.”
In 2011, Today reported on one of the mobile tracking companies, telling us how they work, and that there are many tracking companies available:
“This type of technology can give parents total control over the phone,” said Bob Lotter, CEO of eAgency, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based company that sells the phone-monitoring application My Mobile Watchdog. “It can take the phone offline, block websites or turn off the camera.”
Lotter said his company works closely with the major wireless carriers to make sure his monitoring applications work with the different smart phone platforms. Currently, My Mobile Watchdog is available for Android, BlackBerry, Symbian and older Windows Mobile phones.”
How it works:
“When such applications are installed, every text message, phone call and Web page is forwarded to the child’s parents. Parents can then decide which phone numbers should be approved and which should be monitored or blocked. Even on trusted numbers, parents have the option to review records and can track behavior that appears suspicious.”
“This type of technology might be considered too much of an intrusion into a teenager’s personal life, but Lotter believes that most young cell phone users, especially middle-school-age children, would benefit from the additional involvement. “It’s not always a question of a child doing something wrong,” Lotter said, “but rather a matter of the child not being mature enough to make the right decision.” A twelve-year-old, for example, may know that text messages from a stranger are wrong and want them to stop, but might be afraid to tell his parents for fear the phone will be taken away and he punished.”
This Grandma, having raised teenagers, knows that teenagers lack judgment, conscience, and fear. Tracking teenagers is as imperative as younger children. Parents should track away, and grandmas should tell them about the Today Show information.
Unfortunately, Jeff Rossen did another report about how to disable the tracking. If it was easy for this Grandma to find this video, the teenagers are sure to find it, probably not on Today.com but surely on You Tube:
Sure enough, You Tube has dozens of such entries. All that means is that the parents need to check the children’s cell phones often.
This Grandma is very happy she does not have the responsibility of raising children in this new electronic age.
Joy,
Mema
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