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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141002123413.htm

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You may also want to put a limit on the number of minutes your child can spend on the phone and the number of texts for any given period of time.  While your child may try to delete texts or calls on their phone to make it appear that they are not using it as much, this can easily be tracked through the phone.  A text message-tracking software, like TxtWatcher, can help you to enforce this usage limitation.

It is also a good idea to limit the hours of cell phone use during the school year.  For example, the phone is not used before 9:00 am and is turned off after 7:00 pm, or whatever range best suits your household.

Limiting cell phone use until your child’s homework is done is a great way to ensure that they are learning in an environment free of distractions.  It is also a great motivator for your child to get homework completed and out of the way sooner.

You may also want to restrict cell phone use during meal times.  Dinner time is a big one.  Even if you don’t necessarily have a sit down dinner as a family, it is great to teach your child early on that dinner time is not appropriate for electronics at the table.

After the lax rules of the summer you may meet some resistance from your child.  As you fall into a schedule, and your child becomes accustomed to these new cell phone limitations, this will get easier.  It is important to be consistent when and where you limit your child’s cell phone use.  This will make more sense to your child, as they adjust to these rules.

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Hiding the phone is another good way to prevent theft.  Put the phone in a small pouch, or some other bag that makes it less easily identified as being an expensive electronic device.  Teach your teenager to never leave their phone attended at school and walk away, even for a second.  This is just asking for someone to steal it.

Discourage your child from carrying a cell phone in their pocket.  Many smartphones carried in pockets can stick out, making it an easy target for thieves.

The latest technology can be very competitive.  Encourage your teen not to boast about their phone or its features around others.  This is just asking for trouble.

If your teenager drives to school, and is in the habit of leaving their cell phone in the vehicle, make sure the car is locked with the windows all the way up.  The phone should also be stowed away.  Ideally, your teenager should lock their cell phone in the trunk.  During the day, school parking lots tend to be deserted, and a prime location for theft.

If your teenager’s cell phone is lost or stolen, teach your child to immediately report the theft to authorities.  Tracking software like TxtWatcher can help to identify suspicious texts that may not have been sent by your child, indicating that the phone is being used inappropriately.  Keeping a record of your phone’s make and model, color and appearance, and any distinguishing marks can make it easier to get your phone back if it is lost or stolen.

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Too many kids are sleeping with a cell phone right next to their head, waking to the constant alerts and vibrations.  This type of sleep interruption prevents your child from getting the maximum amount of REM sleep needed.

One reasoning that often arises for cell phones beside the bed is for the ever-useful alarm feature.  As a parent, it will greatly benefit your child if you simply invest in an alarm clock for these early morning wake-ups.  Even turning the phone on silent, it can still be a distraction as your child is too tempted to communicate when the phone is right at their fingertips.

An effective strategy is to set up a designated charging station for each family member’s cell phone.  This charging station should be in a central location of the house such as the living room.  At bedtime each cell phone needs to be placed in this charging station, where it is kept there until morning.  Not only does your child wake up to a fully charged phone, but you are ensuring there is no texting until the wee hours of the morning.

At the same time it is important to set and maintain a bedtime for your child, particularly on school nights.  Each night at a set time the cell phone is put to rest in the charger.  By keeping the cell phone out of your child’s room at night you are eliminating the late night temptation to stay up communicating with friends.

Studies have shown that when electronics are turned off at least one hour prior to bedtime, this significantly improves sleep patterns and reduces insomnia.  Consider not only setting a bedtime, but an electronics off time for your child.  This will encourage them to also find some other form of entertainment beyond a screen, even encouraging your child to read a book for a set amount of time each night before bed.

Consistency is key here.  Your child’s friends will come to know, and expect, that the cell phone is turned off at a set time, and communication later than this will eventually cease.  Whichever route you choose to ensure that you child is not using their cell phone until all hours of the night, installing a tracking software  like TxtWatcher can ensure that your rules are being followed.

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Research has shown that multi-tasking while studying significantly reduces a child’s ability to learn and absorb new material.  Constantly checking a cell phone for messages and texts has a significant impact on studying.  Additionally, multi-tasking has a detrimental effect on remembering new materials, all important factors for when your student is studying for an exam.  By not engaging the full attention of their brain on the subject matter, it is difficult to remember the material at a later date.

The key to assisting your child in getting back into school mode is all about routine.  Set aside a certain time each night for homework.  For some children setting a timer may be helpful.  This special study time that you have designated each day should also be an “electronics free” time.  Have your child turn the phone off and put it in a different room when studying. By having the cell phone out of sight, you are eliminating this huge distraction, and ensuring that your child is better able to concentrate on school work.  Additionally, turning the phone off will ensure there are no message alerts that may still be heard from another room causing distractions.

Another approach is to have your child “turn in” their cell phone after school.  Once their homework and studying is completed, they then have earned back the privilege of the phone for the remainder of the day.  This is a great way to motivate a resistant studier, encouraging them to get their work done early to earn back their phone.  This strategy also ensures that the homework is done earlier in the afternoon, before your child is too tired to fully absorb the study material.  Restricting cell phone use is a great motivator, as your child will work to earn back their cell phone communications each day.

These approaches to removing cell phone distraction from your child’s study time will ensure this time is used to the fullest, resulting in successful school year.  However, there are times when as a parent you can’t be around whether because of work or other obligations.  Tracking software like TxtWatcher is a great way to ensure your rules are being followed, restricting access and messaging during certain times each day.

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Today, still no states have passed laws banning cell phone use while driving entirely.  Forty four states, including the District of Columbia, have passed laws banning texting while driving.  The District of Columbia has taken this one step further, banning the use of handheld cell phones while driving.
When asked what types of penalties they would like to see enforced against drivers who text, 52% were in favor of a point system that could ultimately result in the loss of the offender’s license or increased insurance premiums.  51% of respondents were in favor of tiered levels of penalty for repeat offenders and 50% thought monetary fines should be part of the penalty.

The National Safety Council continues to stand by their assessment that the human brain is not able to hold up the level of multi-tasking operating a vehicle while speaking on a cell phone requires.  In fact studies have demonstrated that the brain is similarly distracted regardless of the use of handheld devices while driving.  In an estimated 26% of all motor vehicle crashes at least one of the drivers was on a cell phone, talking or texting, at the time of the accident.

To the parent of a teenager these are alarming statistics.  Teenagers are seldom without, or on, their phone.  From texting and photos to chatting with friends, it is difficult for a teenager to spend any amount of time away from their mobile device.  Teenagers also have no sense of their mortality and often engage in risky behaviors without considering the consequences, such as texting while driving.

As a parent you can too often feel out of control in helping your child to make the right decisions.  By installing a mobile phone tracking system you can now ensure that your child is safe, and making the right decisions when operating a vehicle.

Mobile tracking with TxtWatcher allows for text monitoring, while using a location–based feature that identifies the location of your child’s mobile device when they send or receive text messages.  One of the key capabilities of TxtWatcher includes email or texts sent to you when your teen is texting while driving.  This message monitoring app is able to detect when a text is sent from a vehicle moving faster than 15 mph.

It is important as a parent that we instill a sense of responsibility in our children.  However, it is even more important that we keep our children as safe as we can.  Ensuring that your child is never texting while driving can help.

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Additionally, there is a certain level of social pressure on children to have the same technology their friends do.  Your ten year old will start begging for a cell phone as soon as their friends get one.  This certainly does not mean they should automatically be given this type of privilege.  Instead you need to determine whether your child is responsible enough for the level of maturity that goes with owning a cell phone.

In general most children are ready for their own cell phone between the ages of eleven to fourteen.  This is the age when children typically begin traveling alone, and may need to coordinate frequently with a parent regarding their location and pick-up schedule.

Keep in mind that in purchasing a cell phone you may want to restrict the phone’s capabilities.  Purchasing a smartphone, or one with a camera can bring its own level of parenting challenges and concerns.  At such a young age, a parent should be leery of giving their child untethered, unsupervised access to the web, that may otherwise not be allowed at home.

Kids today are using their cell phones primarily for communicating with their friends, through text message and social networking sites.  For younger children, consider purchasing a more inexpensive prepaid phone that comes without a contract.  You can then load minutes onto your child’s phone.  This will ensure that the technology is being used wisely and appropriately.

If you do opt to purchase your child a smartphone, be sure to set parental controls and restrictions.  A parental monitoring service like TxtWatcher can be extremely useful in ensuring that your child is using their cell phone in a way that keeps them safe and responsible.

Cell phones can offer some great benefits to both parent and child, but it is important that you teach your child to use this technology properly.

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It is a difficult decision when to allow your child to have a mobile device, and an even bigger parenting challenge to ensure that the technology is being used properly and in the safest manner possible.  As a parent, it is your responsibility to ensure that your child is not making themselves vulnerable or becoming a victim through the use of mobile technology.

One of the most effective ways to protect your child from misuse of their mobile device is by installing a monitoring software.  An effective mobile monitoring software can alert the parent if potentially damaging or dangerous terms are being used in text messages.  These monitoring software programs are further able to flag the codes or shorthand for these topics that teens and tweens are so often using in their text messages.  TxtWatcher’s offers a mobile monitoring software that employs a translation engine for text messages.  This allows text shorthand to quickly be translated and the parent notified if, and when, certain inappropriate topics or behaviors are being referenced.

Installing mobile monitoring software is a simple process.  You will need to have physical access to your child’s mobile device in order to complete the installation.  Because monitoring services, such as those offered by TxtWatcher are unobtrusive, in most cases the phone user does not even know there is a monitoring software installed.  Instead the program simply does its job in the background, with no obtrusive installed app icon.

Using a software application to monitor your child’s mobile device goes beyond the old method of simply “snooping”.  Many teens will delete messages that can be damaging in the event that a parent may find this on their phone.  Additionally, there is something to be said for receiving real-time alerts when your child may be engaging in potentially damaging behavior.  Alerts can be sent to the parent by email or text message to your own mobile device to ensure these are received virtually instantaneously.

Mobile monitoring software is able to capture and log text messages, multi-media messages, photos sent or received, phone numbers, and any attempts to disable the software.  In most cases text messages remain logged, regardless of whether the mobile user deletes them.

Knowledge is key for parents in reducing and eliminating risky behavior that your child may be engaging in using their mobile device.  By employing a software to monitor your child’s phone, you can ensure that you are doing everything as a parent to keep your child safe remotely.

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Cyberbullying brings an entirely new threat to children, as it is difficult to escape the use of technology to reach the intended target.  Bullies can leave damage any time of the day or night, anonymously, and many times these hurtful posts are seen by a wider audience of the victim’s peers, increasing the damage.

The effects of cyberbullying on a young, pre-pubescent child are highly damaging.  As a parent, your child may feel embarrassed or ashamed to tell you about the situation, unsure how you can help.  It is important to remain vigilant and take a position of authority when teens and tweens are using technology.  Teaching your child to refrain from posting photos or videos online that may put them on the radar screen is an important preventative step.

As a parent, monitoring your child’s online activity is also critical in preventing cyberbullying.  If your child is engaged in a social media site, set up your own account and friend or follow your child.  This is something your child will be aware of, but will allow you to view any communications about your child that may be publicly shared.

Additionally, more and more parents are turning to monitoring software for their child’s electronic devices.  Applications such as TxtWatcher allow parents to monitor for alerts in “hot words” sent via text.  This service also ensures that parents can decipher a text, which may be written in abbreviated form or shorthand, through a translation engine called SmartAlec.

To be vigilant about your child’s online use, it is also critical to stay up to date if someone may be tweeting about your child on Twitter.  TxtWatcher allows parents to monitor public Twitter messages when your child is being referenced.  By centralizing this information into one common area, you can make sure nothing slips through the cracks.

By receiving alerts when flagged terms, indecent photos or other hot buttons for cyberbullying are sent or received, parents can take a more proactive approach to ensuring their child is safe and bully-free.  Communication is key to preventing your child from becoming a victim of cyberbullying.  Keeping an open line of non-judgmental discussion will ensure that if they are being bullied your child will find a safe haven to confide in you.

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