Summer Sitter

Summer’s officially here and school is over and I don’t know what the hell my teens are up to because they’re at home and I’m at work. That makes me nervous. Really nervous. So I went and installed a mobile monitoring app called Highster Mobile on each and every one of their smartphones and iPads to make sure they’re safe and not doing anything foolish.

Let me just say that my teens are good kids—but they’re kids. Yes, teens, but that’s still kids. Are they really able to take care of themselves all day long without adult supervision? I think so. No, I hope so—obviously—since I’ve left them in that situation. I don’t have a choice though. I’m a single mom. And they’re teenagers. I stayed home all summer long by myself when I was their age. So why shouldn’t they be able to? Are they really any different than I was when I was their age? Hmm. That’s a good question, android phone tracker.

Are teens today really any different than teens of yesteryear? History would tell us ‘no’, but if you ask me, technology says ‘yes’. The Internet and smartphones have accelerated our kids’ rate of growth … emotionally … so to speak. How? They are exposed to EVERYTHING—all day long. They can access absolutely anything they want with the touch of their fingers. Think about. Social media and its connections to celebrities, politicians, up-to-the-minute news, tabloid fodder, role models, opinionated peers, terrorists; apps; websites; the ability to take and share photos instantly—all instantly expose our children to everything the digital world has to offer. It has to have some affect on their maturation. Or immaturation. Not a real word, I know, how to spy on iphone.

Our kids are definitely being affected by the constant digital stimuli. For one thing, they can’t turn it off. They’re addicted to it. The fact that it’s all there makes them even more curious and crave-y. Again, not a real word, I know. Yes, they’re being exposed to a plethora of great things. Entertaining things. Educational things. But they are just as exposed to all the bad things. Porn. Hardcore porn. News. Bad news (rapes, sex attacks, bombings, tortures, etc.). Bullies. Trolls. Perverts. Pedophiles. Hackers. Terrorists. How can I keep them safe when I’m not around? And how can I keep them safe from these digital dangers even when I am around?

These are the things that keep me up at night and haunt me during the day. So that’s why I put a spy app on their devices. I may not be around, but their phones are always around. They never go anywhere without them. Ever! By putting the software on their devices, I can access their control panels to see exactly how much time they are spending on them, how to track someones iphone. I don’t want them on the devices all day long—which I know they’ll do if I’m not around to say, “turn it off.” I can see what websites they’re browsing, who they are texting and talking with and view the pictures they’re taking and sending and see what they are doing on social media. But it works the other way. I can monitor who is trying to get to them. Hackers, scammers, pedophiles, bullies—they can all be known to me, because I have direct access to their point of entry in my children’s lives. I can even activate their device’s cameras and microphones to make sure they are safe by snapping a picture and listening in on their surroundings and find out where they are by tracking them with the app’s GPS locator.

It’s not the best-case scenario, but it’s a better one than I have. At least I know I won’t be blind to what’s happening in my teens’ lives while I’m working to make their lives better. It’s really the next best thing to having a babysitter.