Parenting has become even more daunting as a result of social media platforms like Snapchat. As an app used to share videos and photos, Snapchat has become very popular among teenagers. This popularity is now a nightmare for many parents who are caught in a web of troubles trying to control their kids’ use of the platform and many other social media apps.
If you are one of these parents, you are probably worried about how your child uses Snapchat. Does my child see or share inappropriate content? Has my kid, been in contact with the wrong people online? Whatever the case might be, your child could be using Snapchat and other social media platforms in a manner that you don’t approve. So the question is, how can you keep your kid in check?
Here are simple yet effective phone monitoring resources for every parent to monitor and influence the child’s use of Snapchat or any other social media out there. Let’s get going.
Monitor your kid’s Snapchat activities
Your first call as a parent is to find a way to monitor your kid’s usage of Snapchat. To pull this off, you need to know what your kid shares on the social media platform, who they interact with, and the kind of messages they are exposed to.
You need to have access to your child’s login details, including passwords and usernames. This is a great step that gets you into your kid’s social media world and gives you the power to take drastic measures when the need arises.
While children are extremely smart and can find their way out if they realize you have access to their login details, there are phone monitoring applications that give you access to their phones without you having to physically find a way to get your child’s password.
Tighten your parent-kid communication efforts
Having control of your kid’s phone or passwords is not an automatic solution in itself. Your monitoring efforts have to be accompanied by proper communication between you and your child.
As a parent, you need to teach your child responsible online behavior and the repercussions of doing otherwise. Thus, educate your kids on the risks involved in sharing inappropriate videos and photos or engaging with the wrong people.
Apart from helping kids understand what they are doing online, proper communication gives you the chance to know whether your child is mature enough to be allowed to use Snapchat.
Proper parent-kid communication helps your child to learn more about social media dos and don’ts and also keeps them safe from cyberbullying, sexting, and other inappropriate social media activities.
Separate your kid’s phone usage from their school time
Every parent probably warns their kid not to send phones to school. But are you sure your kid obliges to this warning?
It’s easy for kids to sneak their mobile phones to school. And when they get to school, what more can they do than to spend almost half of their time sharing photos and videos.
If you’ve not been monitoring your kid’s school time to see if they send phones or not, then it’s time to start. If you’ve been doing so, you should tighten your grip as kids can always find ways to outsmart their parents.
To make this approach more effective, you have to liaise with the school teachers, who will make sure your child is not coming along with a mobile phone to school.
Ultimately, when it comes to using a phone in school, you need to do the adult-thinking for your kids. Even when your kid seeks permission to use a phone because the school doesn’t frown on its usage, you need to be the one to talk them out of it.
Always find a way to prevent your child from using a mobile phone in school. Not only does it help to keep them focused on their studies, but it also helps them to eliminate some addictive social media habits.
What next for parents
Social media platforms such as Snapchat are constantly gaining the attention of teenagers. Without a lot of worldly experiences, these kids might think spending a lot of their time on these platforms is a good way to getting noticed, without realizing it is slowly eating their time.
Thanks to phone monitoring platforms and the strategies mentioned above, you can, as a parent, help your child build a better future without being exposed to the social media canker.