I have a teenage son—and like most teenage boys, he’s kind
of stupid. I’m not being mean—I’m being honest. I was a teenager once—and I
know from personal experience that teen boys do incredibly stupid things all
the time. They light fires, ring and run, peep in windows, throw things off
overpasses, shoplift, smoke, drink—you name it, a good majority of them have
done some or all of it. But there’s a new stupid that didn’t exist when I was a
teen, and it’s called the Internet.
Yeah, I’m dating myself by admitting that there was really
no such thing as the Internet when I was young. I mean, yes, the Internet did
exist—but it wasn’t something that 99% of the population had. It was mostly
used for universities and the government. Now, it’s in everyone’s hands in the
form of smartphones and tablets—and it’s a dangerous thing for a teen boy with
a penchant for stupid to have, whatsapp spy.
The modern smartphone
is filled with all the evils of the world: XXX porn, pedophiles, hackers,
scammers, bullies, trolls, druggies, terrorists! Your son, like mine, is
carrying it all with him wherever he goes, twenty-four hours a day. He can
access all of it whenever he wants and he can do plenty of stupid that lasts
forever in just a few quick types, swipes, taps and likes.
He can make a stupid remark (say about gays or women) on
Twitter or Facebook, forward an inappropriate picture of a female classmate
(taken by her boyfriend) to everyone on Instagram, or illegally download the
latest blockbuster on his iPhone—and it can all come back to haunt him. Even if
he deletes anything he downloads, uploads, or posts, it is there in the digital
world for someone to find. Forever, spy mobile.
So what can you do to make sure your kid doesn’t end up
doing some really stupid? Well you can start by having a very serious
conversation about acting responsibly in the digital world. You can also do
what I did: go and install a top-rated mobile surveillance app on his device.
I put a cell-phone spy app called Highster Mobile on his
iPhone so that I can monitor what exactly he’s doing on his phone all day.
Right now, my son is only 14 so he’s mostly playing Clash of Clans, watching
parkour videos on YouTube, listening to his favorite bands on iHeart Radio, and
yes, looking at pictures of girls. Some naked. But at least they are of legal
age, spyware for iphone.
I don’t check on him every day—it just feels wrong—but every
once in awhile I skim through his browser history to make sure he’s not looking
at anything hardcore or related to making bombs or something. I also check his
social media activity to see if he’s saying anything inappropriate or
defamatory. And once in a while, I activate his microphone and listen in on his
real-life conversations to make sure he’s not acting up with his buddies—some
of whom are even stupider than him.
Right now, my kid is an average one, but who knows what the
future holds. The fact is, that I can’t protect him from everything, but with
Highster Mobile, I sure can try.
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