Author name: Jenny Nicole

Halloween safety guide
Child Monitoring, Social Media, Tips

The Safety Guide All Parents Must Follow this Halloween 2015

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Alright parents, time to gear up. We’ve been preparing for this since the beginning of the month. Our pumpkins have been carved, our costumes have been made. Now let’s get down to business and formulate a family safety plan for Halloween 2015. Here we go. Discuss Routes Clearly and Elaborately Did you know that kids are twice more likely to get hit by a car on the road on Halloween than any other night of the year? That’s mostly because most kids go out trick or treating in the night prattling about from door to door for candy. In fact, we hear the Muskegon police is actually distributing reflective trick or treat bags around to kids in their area so that drivers would be able to see kids more clearly in the dark on the night and avoid accidents. We’ve got a precaution of our own. Before Halloween night, sit all your kids down for a family meeting and discuss the houses they will visit for candy. Be elaborate about route planning and make sure you tell them not to run on roads and mainly use the sidewalk with their friends. A route map is really important because that way your child is less likely to get lost. Get that GPS Tracker Ready Another good idea is to let your children know that you’ll be GPS tracking them for backup. Your child can enjoy their night out knowing that you will they if they get lost or come across any trouble. And you can enjoy your night in, and know exactly where your kids are all the same. Your GPS tracker will give you their real time location, and you can pinpoint the exact place your kids are on the map. Set Geo-Fences Around Your Area Another thing you can do is to set geo-fences around your block or neighborhood where your child is supposed to be trick or treating. You talked to them about keeping safe and only sticking to the route make you’ve discussed, haven’t you? Well, the geo-fencer is your tool to make sure they’re sticking to the rule. Kids can get a little carried away when they’re high on sugar and there’s the promise of more candy. Your geo-fencer will tell you if they happen to stray away from the parameters you’ve set for them. Your app will instantly alert you so you can take action right away. Get Other Parents in on Your Safety Regime Take a little social responsibility and get other parents in on your safety regime. Get other parents involves with tracking their children to protect them. Your initiative could keep every child in your neighborhood safe, and with your help, your kid and all their friends could enjoy a secure Halloween. Remember, every little act matters. Enjoy the Rest of the Night If you evaluate this regime, you’ll realize that most of it just precautionary work. Which means you’ll actually have very little to do on the night of Halloween. So really, you can sit back and enjoy the rest of the night while your child is away collecting candy. As long as you’ve taught your kid all the rules and have your tracker with you, you’ll be fine. Happy Halloween!

Kill Your Delivery Location
Cell Phone Tracking, Tips

4 Ways to Kill Your Delivery Location Woes By Using Cell Phone Tracking

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When working in delivery, finding your pick up destination and then locating the drop off afterwards can be a time consuming affair that can end in frustration.  This can be prevented if cell phone tracking with XNSPY is used, which brings the location to you. The worst part about working with delivery orders is that it takes forever to actually find then than it takes to deliver them. But that’s not it—when you’re already having a long day at work, aching to get back home, it takes even longer for you to find your delivery locations. The routes seem a concrete maze and when every house is identical, you waste up to half an hour in your search. Frustrations grow, because time is money, and while you got off work at 6 and dreamed of being home by 7, it is now 6:30 and you still haven’t found your drop off. And when you finally do, there you are, stuck in a traffic jam. If only you had left earlier, you could’ve avoided the traffic hour. Blood pressures rises, each honk of the horn irritates you and you get home to your family in the worst of moods. Lucky for you, there are a few ways that can help you never go through location rage ever again. Your cell phone tracker is more versatile than you know. You just have to know how to use it. Review Your Location History Cell phone spying helps you maintain a log of all the places you have been. It marks and saves all the spots on your map for you to review later. In this way, once you’ve been to a delivery spot, you can save your location then and there and return to consult it when you’re ready to leave. You can also conduct careful route planning and find the shortest and optimal ways to all your pick up and drop off locations. Mark Areas on the Map A similar option to saving location history is to mark your parking spot as the “Watchlist location” on the map. This is also known as geo-fencing and it will enable you to trace back to the exact point in the the target location is at, saving you time and frustration. It will be a lot easier for you to find your target location once you know the general area it is located in. Your Delivery Woes are Gone! Be it finding a good place to park, locating all the places you need to deliver, or keeping track of time to ensure customer satisfaction, getting a suitable app will only aid you in saving your time and energy. Unless you’re scurrying about the route maze and getting stuck in traffic is your cup of tea, you might want to consider getting hold of the XNSPY cell phone tracking system. It works great for business teams and helps employees keep in touch with the boss, optimizing your delivery business altogether. See Also: How Can I Track Cell Phone Location in Real Time?  

cell phone spyware
Employee Monitoring

2 Ways Cell Phone Spyware Can Be Your Employee Management Sidekick

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Have you been thinking about starting a new business? That’s super exciting! I am sure you’ve done all the research you need and are all set up to begin. But wait! Have you heard that nearly 90% business in the US fails within the first quarter? Though about digitalizing your start-up? You probably left that bit out. Don’t worry, a lot of people do. It helps if you know all the challenging situations you are going to face along the way then you‘re a one-person management, even if only in the beginning months.  But more importantly, you’ve got to have a super digital assistant to help you along the way. And a cell phone spyware like XNSPY can give you all the help you need. Let’s explore this further. Why Do Small Businesses Fail? Before I begin telling you the do’s, lets quickly go through the don’ts. Give the following infographic a look: So according to this, small businesses fail because of Bad management Competitors Not enough training So, just because you are good at your work doesn’t necessarily mean you’re good at running a business. That’s what lots of people miss out on. Your Employee Monitoring Assistant #1 Now that you know what not to do, let me tell you of two very basic tools that will be a lot of help with management in the early days. Both these come from digitalizing your business like I said earlier, using XNSPY spy software. When managing employees, the first tool is the feature through which you can view their current location through GPS tracker. This should solve a lot of your problems. If your small business has a delivery and logistics nature, you can decide the optimal routes for delivery and make sure your employees are following it. You’ll know for sure if they go somewhere else because it’ll be visible on the map. Additionally, you can place geofences around the no-go areas to avoid time wasted. Not to mention it would be good for customer satisfaction! Recommended for You:  Employee Monitoring Software – Spy Employees Remotely Your Employee Monitoring #2 Now that you are digitalizing your business, you’re hiring people to maintain data sheets, make strategic and financial plans, handle all kinds of sensitive data. All of this stuff is usually is online, so you trust your employees not to misuse it. However, now you can ensure that they do with your second tool that lets you look at their web browsing history. This way, you can make sure they’re spending productive time at work and not misusing the company data.   Do Your Research! These two features from the cell phone spyware XNSPY are really going to help you in your management. However, as far as running the entire company goes, you might want to take Eric Ries’ advice and create a Lean Startup. 90% of start-ups in the US fail because the entrepreneur has the craft but zero management skills. This is why they these 2 management sidekicks will make you sail through your business. Read More: XNSPY Helps Makes Profits for My Plumbing Company, Too! Why Does XNSPY Have To Exist? XNSPY: A Better Option for a Cell Phone Tracking App  

Socially Responsible Children
Social Media

10 Ideas for Raising Socially Responsible Children

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In the “Me Generation”, it sometimes becomes hard to think of others. Self-involvement takes center stage and kids grow without a sense of collectivism, or a thought for the greater good. But it is 2015, and in this day, raising children with the right social awareness about equality, race relations, and diversity is important, albeit a little more complex than what they learn in school. But the truth is, it starts at home. The lessons you give your child one-on-one supersede anything they will learn in books. Because those lessons build character. Time for you to step up and make sure the lessons you’re feeding them build a socially responsible character. Teach What They Don’t Teach at School Schools may give your children a particular set of skills that will help them get jobs later on in their lives. And that’s great, too. However, a lot of schools skim out on real life training and knowledge. For example, history lessons in schools are generally centered on white, male heroes unless special occasions such as “Black History Month” call for some diversity in this understanding. This is where you step in and teach your kids about the unsung heroes. Talk about influential women of color, or discuss communities that those history books have left out.   Practical Lessons in Sharing It is very important for kids to realize that they are way luckier than a lot of people living in this world right now. Although lessons on privilege are much more multitier, this seems like a good place to start. Thus practical lessons in sharing include sharing what they have with people that have very little. Let them be the ones to pick out clothes from their closet they don’t need any more to place in a local charity. Ask them to pick out books from their shelves that they’ve already read loads of times and give it to someone else. Recommended for you:  Parental Control App – Cell Phone Parental Control Software Treating Everyone the Same As your kids grow up, they will start to notice that not everyone is treated the same. People are discriminated against because of their skin color, disabilities gender, religious beliefs, preferences and much more. Different treatment takes the form of slurs, hate speech, being followed around in grocery stores, or being denied service in restaurants. It is in instances like these that you should teach your kids why treating people differently is bad and what they can do and say to treat everyone the same. Being thoughtful about what to say to people counts for a lot—just ask parents of kids with special needs. Describe News Events in Simple Ways In the same way, kids are bound pick up on the things that are happening around the world, and question them all the same. For example, what happened in Ferguson sparked a conversation on police brutality and race relations. So when your child brings up something they heard on the news, make sure you ask them how they feel about what they heard. Explain these events in simple terms—perhaps by likening them to something that they could relate to in schools or in television shows. All of which would contribute to a better understanding of the world around them. Recommended For You: Safety Tips for Kids Who Cannot Have Enough of Pokémon Go XNSPY Helped Me Build Trust With My Child Times When XNSPY Comes to the Rescue of a Single Father to a 16-Year-Old

Book Teaches Kids How to Code
Tech

New Children’s Picture Book Teaches Kids How to Code

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A brilliantly illustrated children’s book is teaching kids how to code. Titled “The Wonderful World of Creatures and Code” is a fantasy book starring many fantastical creatures, kids, aliens and much more. The only thing that sets it apart is that all these characters’ journeys are marked by HTML. As clever an idea as this is, it is not available for purchase just yet. More About WWoCC This A-Z structured children’s book is a project that began on Kickstarter. And it is truly a children’s book in the 21st century. They idea came when the authors were looking for a gift for their friend’s baby shower. Since the friend was a developer, they thought the perfect gift for a child would be a book about code. However their search came up short and they found no children’s book of that sort. That lead them to write a book of their own, incorporating code into the story and the many adventures of all the characters. What the Book is Like The authors, Pascal and Petrocelli have worked with Jaosn Heglund, a graphic designer to bring their idea into existence. They use 26 basic HTML tags and codes that are important in making websites. Readers of all ages can develop an understanding of what makes a website. They make use of rhythm and poetry to help the kids in their learning. This makes it fun for the kids to read, even when they are learning about seemingly complex concepts. What’s more, the illustrations aren’t there just to keep the child’s attention. It is there to explain the code further as well. They elaborate on the <a> tag by illustrating scientists putting together a creature in the same way one would put together a website. (https://www.invisibly.com) The scientists building the creature carry little notes with them like “needs href” as little Easter eggs for parents and children with a deeper understanding of code. This is a nod to Disney and Pixar films that often slip in jokes for the parents in their animated features as well. The authors have made sure that the teaching process isn’t “dumbed down”. Instead, they explain the concepts accurately, albeit simply. A Modern Day Bedtime Story Another thing that the authors are sure about? This isn’t just a story for parents who happen to be develops. This book really is for anyone. If anything, it helps you kid develop a skill that is so essential in this modern day—it teaches them the A-B-Cs of code. And these authors are not the only ones who are encouraging this movement. Last year, Google started their Made with Code project, an effort to encourage more young girls to learn coding. As more and more aspects of our daily lives are driven by technology, it makes sense to start teaching kids about it… in little, colorful, bite sized pieces.

Fussy eater
Child Monitoring

More on Eating Disorders: Is Your Child Battling Anorexia?

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For teenagers going through changes aplenty, growing up is tough as it is. Their body changes every day and they go through a lot of awkward phases, during which they may not have the healthiest self image. As a result, they wish to look different, they wish to attain their social ideal self—an image of unattainable perfection. One manifestation of this unhealthy preoccupation is the desire to look thin. So much so that it translates into an eating disorder. But when a child has anorexia nervosa, the obsession with being thin is more potent than ever, even taking over their ability to do everyday tasks. It can happen to both boys and girls in all different age groups. It is a mental illness as well as a physical illness, and it most certainly can be treated. You just have to learn more about it. Anorexia Nervosa at a Glance For a quick intro to anorexia nervosa, take a lot at some stats from Dreamstime.com: From the infographic, you’ll get a baseline understanding of the illness—that it happens mostly in women, that it can be caused be genetics, although “pressure from society” and “body ideals” seem like they may have more interference that we think. But let’s dig a little deeper, shall we? Similarly, there can be times where a child does not necessarily “look” anorexic, but may be battling this illness till it eventually deteriorates their body. What Causes Anorexia? Truthfully, there isn’t a central cause for anorexia. It is a culmination of different mental and situational factors. Many a times, it begins with a person starting a diet to look slimmer. Here they cut off important food groups from their diet, which leads to sudden weight losses. However, people with a history of depression, anxiety or other compulsive disorders are also like to develop anorexia nervosa. At the same time, images of perfection from the media, bullying from school mates or peers, or a stressful environment at home can come into play as well. Anorexia Signs and Symptoms Question is, how do you tell if or not your child is battling anorexia? Here are some of the signs you need to look for: When they have food rituals. Many people with anorexia nervosa have strange table habits. They may cut up their food into several pieces, use a specific plate every time, would want their food exactly on the same spot, may count the number of times they chew etc. When they follow a very specific, prolonged diet. It is worrisome when your child completely cuts of certain food groups and eats only low fat, calorie foods even when they have attained their “goal” weight. Lying about eating or eating in secret. Some anorexic individuals hate eating in front of people and instead eat only in locked rooms or when everyone else has left the table. Similarly, a lot of them lie about having eaten. Following Up What to do if your child is showing signs of anorexia nervosa? It is very important that you monitor their behavior. That way, you’ll know for sure what it is they are struggling with. Then, get some help right away. Talk to a counselor, a doctor, a nutritionist. Talk to them about your child’s eating habits and let a professional guide you about what you should do one step at a time. But act now before it gets too late.

teens-reunite
Child Monitoring

What Parents of Special Needs Children Want You to Know

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Parenting is a tough job for anyone in the world. But along with facing everyday challenges, parents with special needs children have a few more hurdles they’ve got to work through. Tough as it, most special needs parents work at their best, but often find themselves facing ignorance and criticism from the people around them. This discourages and insults not just the parents, but the children they’re looking after as well. The interesting bit is that a lot of people don’t realize that they words that come out of their mouth are offensive or inappropriate. Here is what parents with special needs children want you to know. What Does ‘Special Needs’ Mean? ‘Special Needs’ is a broader term used to describe a variety of diagnoses. This includes learning disabilities, any form of cognitive impairment, developmental delays, psychiatric issues, allergies, or other terminal illnesses. Special needs are thus usually defined by the many confinements a child faces that stops them from living their life in the way that other children live theirs. Parenting Special Needs Children Can be Lonesome A lot of parents of special needs children feel lonely for a number of reasons. The first is that they feel like their child (and they, by extensions) are missing out on certain experiences. Because they don’t learn or play or act in the same way regular kids do, parents do not have the same experiences as do other parents. At the same time, these parents find it difficult to integrate their child into the society even though they would like to. People around them don’t know what arrangements to make for a special needs child, therefore being invited to other kid’s birthday parties or into other people’s homes is rare. It is nice when someone reaches out to them without the experience being a fuss. The Wrong Choice of Words is Hurtful Most people don’t even realize it, but using the wrong words is very hurtful. Terms like “short bus” or “retarded” are never okay, even if you didn’t intend any malice when you said them. They are insensitive and downright insulting. By using such slurs (yes, slurs) you hurt both the parent who is probably working very hard at their job, and the child who did not choose to live a life with their diagnosis. Approach With Kindness, Not Judgment Children with special needs may act a bit differently than other kids, sometimes even look a little different. But that’s no reason for you to approach the child or their family with judgment. Most times, even walking down the street is difficult for these families because they get so many fingers pointed at them and so many whispers surround them. So, instead of staring or judging them through your preconceived notions, approach them with kindness. Smile at them, talk to them about regular things, reach out to them. Are you the parent or caregiver of a special needs child? What else would you want people to know about your child and your family?

kids-screen-time-recommendations
Child Monitoring

The AAP Releases New Digital Guidelines for Children

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is the body responsible for teaching parents about the screen time for kids of all ages. Previously, they recommended that babies under 2 years avoid the screen altogether if their parents can help it. As for toddlers over the age of 2, they would advise parents to keep the screen time under 2 hours. However, they are now quite aware that this is a digital age and things are changing. Nearly every kid now has a smartphone of their own, and most toddlers play with iPads more than they play with toys. And so they have laid out a new set of digital guidelines for children. This is what their research has concluded. You wouldn’t be surprised that most of it is what we’ve already been talking with you about for over a year! Every Age Group Needs a Limit The AAP has recommended that parents set a smartphone or tablet use limit for every age group your child is in. In the same way you would monitor their sleep, diet, behavior and education, monitoring their devices is just as important. In our blog about monitoring and privacy, we talked about the “Age Meter”, which gave you the same advice. Set a limit for the amount of screen time your child is allowed, and gradually adjust it the older they get. Teach Digital Etiquette Another recommendation the AAP has made to parents all around is that they teach their kids proper online etiquette. In the same way you would teach your kids rules of propriety and kindness in a real life conversation, the same principle applies to a digital conversation as well. Sound familiar? That’s because a while back, we talked about good digital citizenship and what parents can do to make their kids more responsible online. Use Technology Together Another recommendation that we at XNSPY are big advocates of: that parents and children need to use technology together from time to time. Parents could do this by showing what they’re doing online and explaining to kids how different things work. In the same way, they can help young children set up their new account together and explain to them the safety rules that come along with it. Have Device Free Zones Finally, they suggest that you have device free zones in the house—like meal tables or bedtimes, or specific times in the day devoted to family discussions. If you’d like to learn more about this, we’ve got a complete guide on setting digital curfews that will help you understand how you can encourage your kids to be less dependent on their  devices. Seems like the AAP too has started to realize that kids are not subtracting technology from their lives. And they shouldn’t. Technology can be any child’s best friend when it helps them learn, be more aware about their surrounding and learn about what goes on in the world. It opens up their lives to new experiences. However, it is the parent’s duty to make sure that responsible behavior is observed and that kids use their devices in moderation.

Tired business woman with headache at seminar
Child Monitoring

What Employers Need to Do About Stress Management

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If your best performing employee hasn’t been quite up to the mark recently, chances are they’re stressed. And as every employer should know, stress if one of the biggest hurdles to productivity and wellbeing. A stressed out employee would never produce good quality work… and that’s not even the bad part. Stress will also deteriorate your employee’s physical and mental health. They will experience things like: Constant fatigue Anxiety Forgetfulness Irritability Headaches Skin breakout Hair loss Weight loss As their boss, here are a few things from BitRebels you need to know about stress management that will help you keep your employee on track. Amongst things you can do to make sure you have stress-free employees at work? Incorporate a gym or gaming room at the office Give your employees some time off when they feel stressed Break their monotony by giving them work other than the norm Try simplifying their work for them; manage by objectives Did you know that the number one stressor for most employees is a bad boss? Take a look at this infographic by Atlantic Training: Don’t be the bad boss this inforgraphic describes. Try empathizing with your employees instead. Make sure the motivators you give them are more than just extrinsic… it’s good to have bonuses and days off. But it is also important for the employee to feel like they can have personal growth and that they’re part of an environment to which they can add value. Not feeling valuable enough is what is ultimately going to stress out your employee and bring down your company’s performance overall.

teen drivers
Child Monitoring

A Lesson on DUIs and Road Safety for Teens Eager to Get that Driver’s License

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Most teens are all too happy to get their driver’s license when they get to the right age. It is a rite of passage after all, a sign that they’re stepping into adulthood and that slowly but surely, they are being handed responsibility. However, most teens also don’t realize that driving is exactly that—a responsibility. Most teens are also not fully familiar with proper safety rules when they think about taking that car out to drive. Take a look at some of these stats from SafeKids about teens in cars that will help you get a better picture: A rather shocking takeaway in this inforgraphic for me was the fact that most teenagers don’t think wearing a seatbelt is all that important. When in fact, seatbelt reduce fatality risk by 45%. And the top reasons given for not wearing a seatbelt are entire menial, too.  Reasons like It’s too uncomfortable I’m not driving that fast I forgot are nothing but careless rebuttals. This is something that parents and caregivers all around need to teach their kids right before they let them get that driver’s license. Secondly, another safety hazard that isn’t discussed frequently enough is texting while driving. What teens need to learn is that not only are they putting themselves are risk, they are putting other people’s lives at risk, too. Which brings us to our next big, and unfortunately frequent road safety hazard—driving under the influence. Let’s begin by taking a look at some of these statistics from Rick Oliver. Almost a million people are arrested for a DUI in the US every year. This includes a lot of famous faces—people that your children idolize. And that gives the impression that such behavior is acceptable and that anyone can get away with it. So before they get their license, every kid needs to know that there is nothing interesting or cool about such behavior and that incidences involving DUIs can change people’s lives for the worse. Watch this emotional video of a man confessing to his crimes and admitting that he killed a man because of his recklessness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3oluFrZc0 So before you head on and get that license, make sure you are fully familiar with all safety rules and the responsibility that comes with being on the road. Good luck!

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