Children spend more time on cell phones than ever before.
The increased screen time opens up our kids to certain risks and dangers. There are apps out there parents can use to protect them.
"All it takes is a click here and a click there," said Brian Pecho, a Green Bay resident. "If you're not monitoring it they could be off going with someone they don't even know."
According to law enforcement the risk lurking on our children's phones are terrifying.
"There's fraud out there. There's sex trafficking. There's internet crime out there," said Lt. Jim Valley with the Brown County Sheriff's Office. "We need to always be aware that individuals are goint to take advantage of this technology and prey on our kids."
There are ways to monitor what your child is doing on their cell phone. There are applications at your disposal to put you at ease.
With the IOS 12 update in September comes a new native functionality called Screen Time.
After setting up a parent account you can receive a daily report showing:
- How long your child used their cell phone
- What apps they're using
- How long they used each app
- How many notifications they received in each app
Using this information you can:
- Set downtime
- Choose the apps they can always use
- Review privacy settings and review passcode and account changes
- Set limits on applications
This free function does have limitations.
"You'll know what app they're using but you don't know who they're communicating with, what they're sending and what the communication looks like," said Kevan Kay, General Manager and Vice President of N-Tech Consulting.
There are several apps you can download if you need more monitoring capabilities over your child's phone.
Consumeradvocates.org released a list of the 10 Best Parent Control Apps of 2018.
Most of them are available for iPhone and Android devices and range from about $5 to $10 per month.
The top rated app is called Bark.
The app claims it has prevented school shootings and suicide attempts.
With the app you can see every text message, every Facebook post and every email your child sends and receives.
If your child changes a password on any application Bark notifies you.
Deputies say this is half the battle.
"If you don't know that technology then it's going to be hard for you to enforce the rules for it," said Lt. Valley.
Lt. Valley said you should have an open relationship with your child, know their usernames and passwords, and set limits.
Lt. Valley also said you should remind your child frequently to never give out personal information.
If you'd like like help installing a monitoring app on your phone, contact N-Tech Consulting.
For more resources on this topic you can reach out to the Brown County Sheriff's Office.
