I’M WITH STUPID

Remember those funny t-shirts? The ones with the arrow pointing left or right and with the words “I’m With Stupid” written on them? They were supposed to be funny (and they were to me), because you would be wearing it and standing next to someone who, because the arrow was pointing his or her way, was now officially the one dubbed “Stupid”. Well, that’s how I feel when I’m with my son sometimes. Like I’m the one wearing the shirt and he’s “Stupid”, because … well … because sometime he is.

I know. I know. It’s horrible to say that about your own flesh and blood, but hear me out. He’s a teenager. A 15-year old boy. And 15-year old boys can be really, really stupid. And believe me, I’m not just talking about today’s teen boys, how to track someones iphone. I’m talking about all teenage boys—throughout modern history at least.

I was a stupid teenage boy—and I’m sure that my dad was too. I imagine that he thought about wearing the “I’m With Stupid” t-shirt when he stood next to me in the 80s and that his dad would have too (had they been invented in the 1950s) with him. It’s just the circle of life. Teens are learning, experimenting and exploring—and all while their brains are turned off at times. It’s really quite comical—that is, if nothing dangerous happens. That’s why boys are always laughing at each other. One farts on his friend while he’s laying on the couch, another throws a rock or dirt-bomb at his buddy’s bike tires as he races down the street. Some get together to ring and run and others do it to peep in windows. It’s all kind of harmless, but yet, it can all lead to trouble, android phone tracker.

Now we have the Internet—and that’s a whole new world of trouble. It’s any parent’s guess what their teenager is doing on there all day long. Yes, there’s plenty of innocent fun like YouTube, Spotify, gaming, tweeting and Instagramming, but with every good aspect of something, there’s a bad one as well.

I installed a mobile monitoring app on my son’s iPhone and iPad so that I can make sure he’s not doing something wrong. Every now and then, I check his browser history to see what sites he’s viewing. I’m a man. I know that there’s plenty of free porn out there—and I wish that I’d had that when I was his age—but I want to make sure he doesn’t veer in the direction of anything hardcore or illegal, so I check it. I also read his tweets and Facebook posts (since he won’t Friend me) to make sure he’s not putting up anything inappropriate or saying anything derogatory. And every now and then, I track him with the app’s GPS locator and snap a picture remotely with his phone’s camera to make sure that he is where he’s supposed to be and not doing anything stupid or unsafe, how to spy on iphone.

Judge me if you will, but know this, at the first sign of trouble caused by or to my son, I’ll know right away—and I’ll be able to deal with it ASAP. I don’t want his reputation or his life ruined because he did something stupid on the Internet. After all, the Internet is forever and I don’t want it pointing a “Stupid” label at my boy for the rest of his life.