Whether you think monitoring/spying on your kids, seniors or the disabled is really monitoring or not, maybe it depends on what your definition of spying is.  Spying?  Or as some think;  just good parenting or monitoring to keep those we love, safe?

If you look up the definition of spying in the dictionary, it actually has a couple of meanings that all come down to basically the same thing.

 secretly collecting information

 observe (someone) furtively

 discern or make out, especially by careful observation

 To me that means observing and collecting information secretly.  But if you take the word “secretly” out of the equation, we actually observe and collect information on our loved ones all the time.  So, to me that means, if I tell my family member what I’m going to be doing if I feel I need to, it isn’t spying, but rather monitoring.

Giving Up Privacy

A good many people have actually given up a lot of their privacy themselves without even thinking about it.  Think about all the things that many of us have put out there on the internet.  Facebook alone is a hacker’s “died and gone to heaven” dream!  Information complete with pictures!

​Truthfully, I see very little difference to the baby monitor that we had in our kid’s rooms from day one for protection.  Today, we have to be more vigilant for their protection because there are so many more ways our family members can be hurt.  Bullying on facebook and texts or what was happening to my daughter that I wrote about in my previous article.  These are the types of things we need to protect our loved ones from. 

Working at Home During the Pandemic

During the pandemic, I was working from home, so was there in time to see an episode of Dr. Phil.  It was about an elderly woman that was swindled out of over $200,000 by a man online.  He had her convinced he loved her.  All the excuses he gave her for needing the money, my daughter had also been given.  Almost to the exact same words.  Unfreakin believable!!

Last week, I posted an article on monitoring our kids, seniors and the handicapped.  This is part two of that post and is about the different apps you can use to monitor others.  I shared our story about our daughter and the men that were bugging her online.  It has been a big worry for us, and I suspect for quite a few others in the same situation.  Anyone trying to guide their children/teens through the internet or taking care of a senior or disabled person will probably come across this question sometime if it hasn’t happened already.

Read:  Spying on our kids, seniors and the disabled

Apps for Monitoring

Below, I’m sharing the apps that we researched and came across, that you may also need for your loved ones.  Unfortunately, there is nothing to stop this kind of thing from happening to your teenagers, seniors or mentally challenged adults.  They don’t understand how they can be harmed by the predators out there.

The prices I have indicated were what was available at the time, I wrote this post, so be aware they may have changed.

Many of these monitoring apps are easy to use, make history available for calls, texts (including deletions) and websites.  Most will keep tabs on apps such at WhatsApp, Tinder, TicToc, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat to name a few.

​KIDS PLACE

With this app, you can basically childproof your kid’s smartphone.  You can set-up this app so that your child can’t get out of this specific “kids place” area on their phone keeping them from what you don’t want them to have access to.  This app lets you put strict limitations on the user’s device.  Home screens can also be customized.

https://play.google.com/

NORTON FAMILY PREMIER

This monitoring app gives a free 30-day trial and is an award-winning parental control software.  Because Norton Family identifies potential dangers and informs you right away, this software helps protect from hackers and online predators.

This app helps set time limits for internet usage and it protects personal and sensitive information stored on the phone and doesn’t let this information be sent to anyone.  You can also tell it how often you want your report on your child’s activities.

$49.99/year
https://us.norton.com/norton-family-premier

PHONESHERIFF

PhoneSheriff has been a Gold Award winner for customer feedback due to this app helping keep tabs on your kid’s online presence.  It creates a secure account to watch your kids online and is easy to install.  This app allows time restrictions and gives intrusion alerts if someone else tries to sneak into the phone.

$49.00/6 months or $89.00/year
www.phonesheriff.com

SCREENTIME

ScreenTime is the app you want if your child spends a lot of time on a tablet.  It can also be used for smartphones.  While this app lets you set time limits on usage, you can also change those limits from your phone when you aren’t near your child.  You can even prevent your kids from uninstalling this app.  ScreenTime also gives a free 14-day trial so you can check out all the features.
Basic Plan/free
Premium Plan/$3.99/month
https://screentimelabs.com/

SECURETEEN

As the name suggests this monitoring app is geared toward your teen to help with keeping them safe from cyber bullies, stalking, violent games or mature content you would prefer they not see.  This is done through SecureTeen’s internet filtering feature.  You can also set-up a “safe” search to keep out any mature content from coming onscreen when your teen is online.
$39.99/year
https://www.secureteen.com

BARK

This app gives parents automatic parental alerts as it monitors 24 platforms. It tracks social media, text and email on unlimited devices, 24/7.  Bark has won several different awards from The National Parenting Center to Mom’s Choice Awards.
7 day free trial
https://www.bark.us

                                           Save to your boards for family or apps info.

Various apps that can be blocked by many of these monitoring/spying apps.

​CONCLUSION

As parents, we have so many responsibilities toward our kiddo’s and other family members we may be taking care of, that sometimes it’s really hard to make a decision.  For me, as far as my kids are concerned, their safety was always a priority and I still feel that way.  They may have gotten mad or upset at me for something I took away from them or did, with them in mind.  But I wouldn’t be doing my job correctly if getting them upset didn’t happen on occasion.

I know trust is a big thing between kids and parents, as it should be.  But, again, I stand on the side of safety and hope they will understand better when they have children of their own someday. 

I’ve also helped take care of seniors in our family and if I thought they might be harmed in any way, I would also monitor them, if that was needed.  How do you feel on this subject?  I’d love to hear from you, so drop me a line.

Stay Healthy and Awesome!

Cher

If you enjoyed my post, pin it and share it—it would be a wonderful compliment!!

Check out some of my other posts to the right!