Social media is not going away anytime soon. I’ve read articles where 95% of kids from age 12 to young adults use Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. Those are the preferred apps. In an article called Are you OK? | Teens and social media posted on KING TV5 in Seattle, there’s lots of good advice for parents .
By now we all know that social media can cause depression, anxiety in kids as well as adults. What’s really scary is not only cyber bullying but this shocking statistic: 90% of human trafficking begins on social media.
I discovered that in an article called Mesa-based company creates app to monitor children’s social media in simple format by Georgann Yara on the website AZCentral.
There’s an app developed by two men in Arizona that allows parents to monitor their kids social media sites. Here’s a bit of the article:
Years before they met and launched Cyber Dive, a social media monitoring tech company geared toward parents, Jeff Gottfurcht and Derek Jackson were well aware of social media’s powerful and dangerous side.
Gottfurcht is the first person in the world to summit Mt. Everest with Rheumatoid Arthritis. When he returned home from that trip in 2011, he saw a news story about a young girl who was humiliated and bullied on social media after word got out about her being sexually assaulted.
Around the same time, Jackson was across the globe in the Army 1st Special Forces Group, where he spent time in Kuwait, Jordan and Syria. He was an intelligence officer looking into how U.S. adversaries and radical insurgents used social media to recruit members to their cause and perpetuate propaganda.
In 2019, the two got together and formed Cyber Drive because of that story about the girl who was victimized on social media. They created an app to help parents get meaningful information about their kids online activity, while still allowing children independence.
Here’s how it works:
The software covers all platforms and the free membership option includes monitoring on indicators like recurring themes in language, dangerous or suspicious online activity and emotions indicated by analysis of their data. The $5 monthly premium membership allows greater access to features like friends lists, posts and Google searches.
When parents sign up for either membership, they must enter their child’s email address. Then, their child receives a message explaining that someone will use Cyber Dive to monitor their accounts. Parents are encouraged to discuss this with their child before signing up, Gottfurcht said.
Parents use the app for different reasons. Some for safety concerns while others want to have a closer relationship with their children. You can visit Cyber Dive’s website HERE to find out more.
It sounds like a great idea to me. But do you think teens would figure out away around it? Do you think it’s a good idea to keep tabs on teens social media and why or why not?
I think kids are often one step ahead of their parents with stuff like this. My youngest had an instagram(I think?) account in junior high which was pretty harmless but then there was some commenting with foul language and I made him get rid of it. I felt bad about it later. In retrospect how I do I know he didn’t just get a new one with a different username.
To the extent I know about my kids(young adults) accounts–they really don’t seem very active with what they post.
I think intense monitoring of a kids’ social media accounts would be tricky. In some situations I could see where parents would want to do it.
I think the amount of time one spends on social media is where it can get tricky–finding a balance is key I think. My son has a summer job outdoors where he only can get on is phone at lunch–in some ways I think that is a good thing.
I agree with you. It seems that kids would make new accounts, or get a new email if that’s how it’s being tracked. I also think it’s great your son has an outdoor job. Thanks for commenting.
I can only imagine what the cyber world will be like when my 2 year old hits his teens. Frankly, it’s frightening. I am new-ish to social media as I’m nearly 40, and I can’t imagine their will be any way for me to stay ahead of him on this one.🤦♀️ I hope apps like what you’ve suggested continue to help us out of touch grown ups.
Hopefully, we’ll get away from social media by the time your son is a teen. At least I hope so! I’ve read articles that the parents who work for big tech and social media companies in the Bay Area won’t allow their kids to have screen time.
Isn’t that crazy? It’s like the anti-gun Hollywood actors who star in some of the most violent movies out there.. the drug dealers who don’t touch the stuff themselves.. what a can of tangled worms! Who is accountable in all of this? It’s honestly hard to know!
They know it’s unhealthy and addictive. They don’t want their own families exposed. Yet they peddle it to the rest of the world.
Yup.
💜 “Social Media causes anxiety and depression…” and, somehow, Well Meaning, Flawed Parenting doesn’t EveryOne; somehow I THINK!!! Parents Have Got It Horribly Wrong by NOT!!! Actively Listening to Their Kids so The Kids Turn to ‘Risky’ “Social Media” where, at least, They ARE Actively Listened To…there’s a Reason why Kids often Say to Others, Other than Their Parents, “My Parents ARE DUMB!!! how about YOURS!!! 🤔 ?” a Very Good Reason; it’s Crystal Clear Clarity that Kids Know More About Cyber Security than Their “Dumb” Parents
…💛💚💙…
💜 http://www.ericberne.com
…💛💚💙…
💜 Basically, as a family, Kids NEED!!! to KNOW!!! Parents ARE Approachable; so Share The ‘Risky’ Online Experience with YOUR!!! Child and TALK!!! About it instead of a Blanket Ban due to Puritan, Paranoid Parental Ignorance EveryOne
…💛💚💙…
Kids would totally figure out a way around it. I don’t know if it’s possible to keep track of kids online activity
I agree completely unless they have more to the app than I know. Like tracking ISP numbers.
If you are not aware of what you’re children are doing and watching, can’t see the signs of where they are, don’t have talks from time to time, why did you ever have children?
Exactly. Thanks for commenting.