Has your child expressed anger or sadness after going online? This might be one of the main warning signs that your child is experiencing cyberbullying.
The internet is a powerful information channel. At the same time, it’s potentially dangerous as it can expose your child to a world they’re not ready for. “Adult” websites and chat rooms, cyberbullying, and online predators can lurk on your child’s cell phone without you having an inkling.
As parents, we’re responsible for the health, welfare, and security of our children. In today’s world, this includes protecting our kids online.
Here is a list of the top dangers your child can encounter online to give you a clear picture of the threats.
- Cyber Bullying. This is one of the most widespread hazards. Its impact is the same as traditional bullying. Cyberbullying can cause anger, sadness, depression, and even suicide. The top signs of cyberbullying include secrecy in sharing online activity, sudden headaches, unexplained weight changes in your child, nervous behavior, and social isolation.
- Game Addiction. Although there’s no harm in playing games once in a while, in some children, it can lead to game addiction. The usual signs are compulsive game-playing, social isolation, mood swings, nervous behavior, headaches, and anger.
- “Adult” Websites. There’s probably no need to explain why “adult” websites are harmful to underage children. These websites contain pornography, violence, and racial prejudices. Repeated exposure to these websites can lead to abnormal behavior and give children a warped view of sexuality.
- Online Predators. The rising problem of online predators should create concern among parents. It’s very difficult to detect whether your child is chatting with predators or their classmates. You should pay attention to the new “online friends” they make.
- Shady Characters. Most of the communication between children is through social media and texting. A recent poll shows the majority of criminal cases like robbery and rape were planned online through email or texting. If your child falls in with the wrong crowd, it can potentially lead to drug usage or even trouble with the law.
To protect your children from various online threats, you can use mobile monitoring apps. Pumpic.com—Kids Mobile Monitoring is a parental control application that allows you to monitor your child’s online and offline mobile activity. It includes monitoring incoming/outgoing messages and calls, contact lists, and scheduled events.
You can track your child’s real-time GPS location to make sure he/she is where he/she is supposed to be while you’re busy. The most important feature of the parental control app is that it allows monitoring of all online activity, such as social media (Facebook, Twitter), VoIP messages (WhatsApp, Viber), and blocking of “Adult” websites.
You can control and protect your child from questionable contacts by blocking unwanted numbers from reaching the cell phone and setting the times your child is allowed to visit social media to decrease the waste of time online. All downloaded images and videos will be visible to you as well.
The parental control app is easy to install and use. You can track your child’s phone online from your PC or personal cell phone. The app collects all incoming and outgoing online activity and is sent to your unique panel when a WI-FI connection is available. You can be sure your children are safe and protected by viewing their real-time GPS location whenever the phone is on.
Parental control actions to keep your child safe and protected while online are more than just technological; they also include physical actions. Read this article to learn more.
Wow! Thank you for posting about the Pumpic app. It’s a really excellent tool, and a must-have for parents these days.
You’re welcome Annie. Thank you for visiting Support for Stepdasds.
Gerardo