Author name: Jenny Nicole

Child Monitoring, Mobile Phone Spy

Is Your Child the Cyberbully Instead?

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So far in this blog, I’ve talked to you about keeping your children safe from cyberbullies. Because that’s what most people in the tech and parenting realm seem to talk about. We teach our kids how not to be cyberbullied… but we don’t teach them how no to cyberbully. Because remember, cyberbullying by definition occurs between minors, which means behind every aggrieved child is the aggressor. So have you ever thought to wonder, is your child the aggressor in someone’s story? Different Types of Bullying Here’s the thing that gets me the most. Your child may not even realize that they’re bullying someone. Because the cover of a screen or a keyboard gives them the sense that they are void of accountability. Not only that, but being horrible or offensive is part of the internet culture, so your child who has grown up with it may not realize it’s wrong. They’d think leaving a mean comment on a YouTube video of a young vlogger is okay. They’d even think spreading around someone’s picture to humiliate them is okay. They might even have been at the receiving end of it. But all these acts counts as cyberbullying. Take a look at this infographic from Behance: So if your child Attacks a child verbally on an online platform Uses another child’s picture with the intention of defaming or humiliating them Harasses another child on an online platform Spreads rumors about someone online Impersonates someone to embarrass them Uses any information they might have on another child against them They are quite simply cyberbullying. What You Need to Do Well, first of all, you need a way to keep an eye on your child’s online activities. A good monitoring app will let you know everything that is in your child’s phone—that’s what you need to see if your child is involved in cyberbullying to any degree. The parent’s first instinct would be to assume that their kid was provoked into acting that way. Don’t let this be an excuse to pardon them. Reason with them and tell them of the horrible effects of being bullied. It is very important that your child understands cyberbullying. Here are some stats from Business Insider that can help them understand. Also let them know of state laws and how much trouble they can get into if they don’t stop. They need to know that just because they are behind a computer, doesn’t mean they won’t face consequences of their wrongdoings. Another good idea would be to enroll them with causes that work to prevent cyberbullying. Above all, teach them to respect others and to confront conflict with reason and kindness. So if you find undesirable activity on your child’s phone, stop it right away. Because the fight to end cyberbullying begins at your own doorstep.

Employee Monitoring

5 Emerging Trends in Employee Management

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A New Year calls for a new perspective, doesn’t it? So time to pack away those old, lethargic management practices and start picking up on newer, more refreshing ways to run your company. Sure your business is small, or just starting out, or doesn’t even enough employees to draw on atypical management styles. But the best place to begin is from the start. Here are some emerging trends that might help your company stand out and perform better. 1. Performance Focus Here’s something AON has found. Successful companies with the best human resource practices are performance focused. This means that they have clear performance outcomes which helps them to assign, train and manage people accordingly. AON found that a performance focus also leads to more employee engagement because it provides them with more challenging prospects rather than their mundane regular tasks. But at the end of the day, it should also bring about recognition. 2. Encouraging Leadership Here’s another thing that good companies are doing—encouraging employees to take the initiative. Employees that may not be in management positions will not see themselves as stakeholders, so they wouldn’t always want to put their best foot forward. But encouraging every employee to bring in new ideas will make turn the entire company into a think tank… and again call for greater employee engagement. 3. Flexibility Let’s face it, when the novelty of a new job has worn off, the repetitive purgatory of a 9 to 5 job kicks in. And that’s when an employee’s performance starts to go down. A better management practice then would be to allow for flexible working hours. When ideas seem to have come to a stop, step out of the office and get a fresh perspective. Let employees choose the work hours they want if it means more productivity. Create a flexible, yet structured environment. A lot of managers use employee monitoring tools to keep track of everyone in a non-intrusive way, which is a good idea if each worker is to have their own work patterns. 4. More for Part-time Recruiters seemed to think part-time workers are loose cannons, even if they’re easier on company costs. However, think about it this way: a part-time worker comes to the workplace with the job in mind and probably gets it done in a more efficient way. It’s also a great way to test out new recruits before giving them the go for full time. 5. Going Global Your talent pool shouldn’t be restricted to one area. Hiring people from around the world means more diversity and more input. Businesses are now managing people who work for them around the world. Once more, employee monitoring tools have made this possible. If there is a way for managers to stay in touch with their workforce no matter where in the world they are, going global isn’t a problem at all. What these emerging trends are doing is eliminating the hierarchical structures and allowing for everyone to be a stakeholder. It’s allowing a more creative thought process, it’s allowing for flexibility, and it is allowing for more employee engagement. Above all, these trends are encouraging each company to become its own cultural nirvana.

Cell Phone Tracking, Employee Monitoring

Why Online Reputation Matters: Small Business Edition

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We’ve talked about job seekers and we’ve talked recruiters. Now let’s talk small businesses. Because for a small business, online reputation could make or break. Local companies may not have the resources to go global right away, but even they have social media. And if the first few Google search results are bad, it effects the company. It plummets sales, it turns off potential employees, makes you look incompetent to investors, and it damages your brand. So if you’re a small business wanting to be on the rise—online reputation matters. Looking Good to People For you company, your online reputation is your brand. Studies have shown that when people are conflicted about a company or its products, they immediately go online to find out more about them. Whether you’re a product or a service, people are always interested in who they’re buying from. Here’s why: people like to associate themselves with companies or brands that represent them best. They want to be affiliated with its qualities and what in turn what the product or the company chooses to represent. It’s why people want a Rolex when they want to showcase luxury, or eat Equal Exchange Chocolate when they want to show that they support fair trade. Job seekers are no different. The first thing anyone does when they get a call for interview is Google the company. Look through the website, check out their online presence. Naturally, if they find the business has an unfavorable reputation, they’ll want to stay away. Building an online reputation is also a brilliant way to market yourself. Infoteam collected some eye opening stats that highlights the importance of a good web presence. Abercrombie and Fitch Falls Let’s not forget that this is the time of social sharing. People go to company Facebook pages or platforms like Yelp to share any good or bad experience they’ve had with the brand. So it’s not important for a small business to simply build a good online reputation. It is also important for them to manage it. Probably the best example of an online reputation gone wrong is Abercrombie and Fitch. For decades, the company was the very epitome of cool. But when CEO Mike Jeffries comments about not catering to “uncool” or “fat” kids, and wanting to destroy inventory rather than donating to the homeless, the online backlash was instant. People didn’t want to buy from a body-shaming, discriminatory brand. On social media, a campaign began where people started donating their old Abercrombie and Fitch clothes to the homeless to spite Jeffries. And soon, the sales started to look a lot this this… Didn’t help that a lot of employees filed complains about the odd things they were made to do as well. Horror stories flooded the internet and spread like wildfire. The company lost its human resource appeal and its customers. Digging into Online Reputation Management So what is it that you can do to build and properly manage a good online reputation? First, take a look at this infographic by Interel Group. Make a cool website. Every company, no matter the size needs a website. Think of it as your publicist. Keep it interactive and approachable. Make your first impression count. Run a blog. A blog is a great way to keep people informed and updated about your company. It is not only a great way to show off, it also attracts a lot of traffic. Be a social media activist. Update your page regularly and keep your visitors interested. Social pages have a greater SEO power, so use it to your advantage. Whether you’re going to interact with them or not is your choice, but do so intelligently. In all fairness, very company, no matter what the size needs online reputation management. Abercrombie and Fitch is proof enough for that. But a small business has a lot more to gain from it. So if you haven’t thought about building a great online brand for yourself, better get to it quick.

Child Monitoring

How Can Parents Come Up to Speed With Social Media?

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Here’s the thing. I’ve spoken to you about the different aspects of social media in relation to kids enough times that you probably know that I take it to be an important area of concern. And yet, parents are still coming up to me with the same sort of questions. “How can I tell friends apart from non-friends on Facebook?” “How do I know if it’s just kids fighting or if this is an actual case of cyberstalking?” “What can I do when someone leaves a threatening message on my son’s Ask.fm?” And I think I get where they’re coming from. Pointing out these seem complicated if you’re not decently familiar with social media itself. A few weeks ago, we talked about the different social media apps kids are using these days. Let’s dig a little deeper today to see what problems each present. The Social Sharing Instagram. Vine. Snapchat. These are all apps where you share a photo/video of or related to yourself. The problem with these is that they’re like a window into your child’s life. And sometimes, the giveaways are too personal. The posts on Instagram are also open to comments. And when they’re posting pictures of themselves, this means they’re giving bullies the chance to insult, harass or simply mock them. What is it about social sharing platforms that you need to come up to speed with? The risk that comes with sharing personal photos/videos The ambiguity of ownership of these photos/videos The direct communication with bullies The effect on self-esteem that comes with the expected response (or lack thereof) What is it that you need to check? That the photos don’t give away personal information—home address, credit card number That none of the photos/videos put them in a compromising situation That their friend’s list only consists of people they know That their comments sections are free from harassment That they have the appropriate privacy settings The Social News Outlets Tumblr. Reddit. Livejournal. The thing with these platforms is that they’re used for many blogging purposes, but they’re mainly tied together by common interests. People come to these websites to talk about their favorite shows, books, artists and the like. These ‘groups’ are called fandoms. And if you think common interests should bring kids together, how very wrong you are. Because fandoms have wars. Disagreements caused by different opinions on what is essentially the same subject matter. Spotting the problem with these websites is a little tricky because anyone can talk to anyone—regardless of friends lists. While Reddit and Livejournal has a comment system through which kids partake in discussion, Tumblr has an ‘ask’ system, where questions/opinions are posted to a user’s inbox. What is it that about social news sites that you need to come up to speed with? The probability of fandom discussions turning into personal attacks The implication or blatant use of racist and homophobic slurs The prospect of mob mentality that an organized internet group presents What is it is that you need to check for? That the message boards they frequent are regulated That the personal attacks don’t take a cyberstalking form That your child isn’t taking part in an unhealthy activity, such as group bullying a common target in the fandom Here’s What You’ve Leant As far as social sharing is concerned: friends list, friends list, friends list. You need to regulate who gets to see what your child is sharing. Remember, sites like these have privacy settings that determine who is and isn’t allowed to look at your photos/videos. Make sure your kid has the right settings. As far as social news/discussion sites are concerned: check for regulation. These websites have rules for how discussion are to be carried out and what is/isn’t allowed. Make sure you and your child go through them. Report activity that goes against it. I understand that understanding the personality of each website is tough, especially if you’re not an avid user yourself. But keep in mind what is important for the children’s cyber-security.

Cell Phone Tracking, Employee Monitoring

Why Online Reputation Matters: Hiring Managers Edition

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This the time of social search, that much is for sure. When hiring managers start to do it, the frowned upon, guilty pleasure inducing ‘Facebook stalking’ puts on a nice suit and becomes the more corporate ‘data mining’. But here’s the thing, 77% companies have admitted to social search as common, albeit unconventional HR practice. And still, many employers still wonder—is it ethical? Is it beneficial? Should they do it? And above all, does a candidate’s online reputation matter? Why Googling Candidates is all the Rage Like we said in our online reputation for job seekers post, a resume is as telling as a marketing ad for a product. Lots of buzzwords, best features forward, and a fair share of lies. It doesn’t necessarily tell you whether a candidate will be a good hire for the company. They don’t tell you if their personality, work style, or lifestyle aligns properly with yours. So the company ends up paying the cost of a bad hire, and a lot of time and resources are lost simply because you were misled. That is exactly why social searching is all the rage. By going through a candidate’s online reputation, you, the hiring manager can find out a bit more about who they are as people. Take a look at these stats from Reppler… But is there Such a Thing as Ethical Googling? Of course there is! Here’s the unethical bit about Googling your candidate—it tells you about their gender, age, and race, which may call for unwarranted discrimination. For example, you’d already know about their marital status, their religion and other matters that are unethical, if not forbidden. So if an online search of your potential employee stops you from calling them because of prejudice, that’s where you’re going wrong with data mining. So what’s a more ethical option? Google the candidate after you’ve had the initial screening interview. This might help you know more about the candidate so you can help make a decision. It’s also important what you look for. Nobody’s social media presence is an accurate representation of their professional selves. However, a bad online reputation could be an accurate red flag. How to Scan a Candidate’s Online Reputation If you’re taking the plunge as using social media as a recruiting tool, know the dos and don’ts. First, let your candidate know that you’re conducting a background check. This might save you a lot of trouble. Next, know what to look for. You’d be tempted to hold anything you find against the candidate. Remember, this is social media and people are their informal selves on it. Look for recurring patterns. For example, if a candidate repeatedly uses racist slurs, there’s a red flag right there. (Alprazolam) Have they misused confidential information from their previous workplaces? Do they tend to be more active on social media during work hours? A good online reputation would also contain mentions of accomplishments and skills. For example, going through a candidate’s blog might tell you about their writing skills, or their knowledge of the industry. (www.sienagolfclub.com) As long as you’re looking for the right things, you’d be making a more informed hiring decision. Handle With Care You know what? Social sharing is pretty mutually beneficial. Take a look at this infographic from Work 4 Labs: Recruitment through social media is a pretty polarizing subject. Many recruiters still don’t think it’s a useful option at all. But in a world of social networking and fast data, it would seem inapt to ignore a candidate’s online reputation all together. It’s why most workplaces use employee monitoring tools at the office. Because yes, online reputation matters. But being cautious helps when going about this way.

Child Monitoring

4 Ways You Can Help Your Kids Choose a Career Path

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Young children always have ridiculous ideas of what they want to be when they grow up. These ideas get more skewed as they grow older. Other kids have no idea of what direction they want to head toward at all. So here’s the problem: how can you as a parent mediate and inform your child’s career prospect without superseding what they truly want to do? The solution is perhaps more simple than you had anticipated. Explaining Different Jobs Your children may say they want to be an ‘astronaut’, or a ‘doctor’ simply because it sounds glamorous. What you need to do is inform them of what is required of every job in a “If you want to be a __, you’ll have to do __” manner. Remember, you aren’t approving/disapproving their career of choice, but merely giving them the facts so that they can make a more informed choice later on. Help With Finding Interests Some talents are less obvious than others. For example, if your child has a talent for singing, you’d encourage them to take singing lessons. If your child is good at drawing, you’d want them to get into art school. But there are other talents that are more difficult to gauge and become more apparent as the child matures. Therefore, it is a good idea for you to encourage your child to try new things. Because when they do, you’ll start to notice that they might be good at… Leadership capabilities Entrepreneurial instinct Attention to detail Number crunching …amongst other things. BUT this won’t happen if you don’t open up to more horizons. Personality Tests Often, kids are a complete loss of what they really want to do in their lives. And it’s more common than you think. If you ask me, it’s a little unfair to ask kids to decide at 17-18 years old what they want to be for the rest of their lives. But if the clock is ticking and they’re still lost, get their school involved. Many schools have college counsellors that use personality tests to determine what career paths are best for one’s person. The Myers-Briggs test comes in handy, but there are more empirical methods that might help your child decide. Map Out the Path You also need to tell your children that they might have to go through rigorous training—education, internships, house jobs—before they even get to the real deal. Are they prepared to go the college that fulfills their big career dream? Are they willing to put in the work to get to their dream? Mapping out the career path would, again, make them better informed about their decision. The biggest thing you can do is encourage whatever they say they want to be. Provide them with the facts that helps them gain a better understanding of their prospect career. What are the stakes? Would they have to give something up? How will their decision affect them? How will it affect those around them? All your kids might be looking for at this point is a little bit of counsel.

Cell Phone Tracking, Employee Monitoring

Why Online Reputation Matters: Job Seekers Edition

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It’s no secret that everything you do online is documented. But guess what? Anything you do online, you’re also accountable for. Because now, before any potential employer has even made the call to invite you over for interview, they’ve done a thorough Google search that has given them your entire digital footprint tied together with a neat little bow. And that’s exactly why online reputation matters. What Do They See When They Google You? What’s in a name? Your entire social media activity, apparently. Think of every drunk picture you’ve uploaded onto Facebook, or any prejudice comment you might have made on Twitter. You can bet your bottom dollar that your potential employer has seen all of it. Some places in Europe are lucky enough to have the Right to be Forgotten—others will find it a little harder to find and delete any vile YouTube comment they might have made in 2009, or something silly they might have said on their LiveJournal when they were in high school. Here is what Cross Tab has found: 70% recruiters have declined candidates based on what they found out about them online 85% recruiters says a hiring decision is influenced by a good online reputation 75% company conduct an online background check of candidates 89% recruiters think it appropriate to consider professional data posted online 84% recruiters think it appropriate to consider personal data posted online 81% people did not like the results they found when they Googled themselves. Samuel M. Jackson Cannot Get a Job A Google search of you might dish out embarrassing things that might not even belong to you. Take Samuel M. Jackson, for instance. It’s bad enough that he shares a name with a Hollywood legend. It’s worse that he also shares a name with a sex offender. And because of that, innocent Samuel hasn’t been able to get a job in years because whenever a company does a Google search of the name, a history of crime that is not his comes up. He’s paying for an online reputation that’s not even his own. An unfortunate coincidence or a sloppy resource background check? In either case, the odds fall against Samuel. Isn’t Your Business Profile Enough? You say in your resumes what you want an employer to hear. Which isn’t necessarily the truth. So, you could have the most impressive resume in the world, and your LinkedIn could be top notch. But it won’t be enough because those things don’t say much about who you are as a person. This is why your entire social media presence has to align to build your brand. It’s not just companies or businesses that need to do that. Because remember, that first Google search by a potential employer will also be the first impression they get of you. Here’s an infographic from Career Geek that offers a rude awakening… Online Reputation Damage Control Think of how you’d want to present yourself to recruiters and orchestrate your social media presence according to that. Start Tweeting responsibly Keep politically charged opinions to a minimum If the damage is already too much, make sure your profiles are private Remove embarrassing photos Limit visibility of questionable material You also need to Google yourself. See anything inappropriate, anything that might misrepresent your brand? Get rid of it right away. You’ll find that covering up an online footprint might not be so easy. Building a new and improved positive online reputation? That’s what you should focus on now. Building a Good Online Persona Now that you know why online reputation matters, time to whip your existing social media profiles into shape. A foreword: know your audience. Keep in mind the people you’re trying to impress, get noticed by or reach out to. And then try these tips when giving your online persona a makeover: Keep your social media bios updated. This is the ‘About Me’ section of your brand Make sure your web activity—be it a comment on a blog post or a link you share—gives a positive image of you Get involved with your niche-specific pages or blogs Use your Facebook to show off your personality Try running a blog that gives more insight into who you are Insert specific buzzwords into your profiles that makes recruiters easier to find you None of this means that you walk on eggshells. This simply means that you start being more responsible with your web outlets. Potential employers are not just looking for racy photos or comments of prejudice—they’re also looking for instances of professional irresponsibility. You Represent You A lot of us use social media to unwind and gossip, so all of this might seem like your online experience is being tainted. But look at it this way: you’re basically securing a job by showing off on Facebook. It really is as easy as that. As long as you remember that you’re representing yourself, you’ll have a job in your pocket in no time.

Cell Phone Tracking, Child Monitoring

In Retrospect: 2014, the Year of the Catfish

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A budding photographer meets and falls in love with a girl he met online, only to find out she isn’t who she says she is. This inspires news reports, a documentary, and a TV series, and ultimately, a new pop culture term, ‘catfish’. Catfishing is the dark, but largely inevitable phenomenon of the online dating world that has probably always existed but in retrospect, came front and center in 2014. A few weeks ago, we talked about online predators on this blog. Imagine your kids being catfished by a predator—only this time they’ll be pretending to be someone else. And is exactly why it might do some good to parents to know a few things about it. How Does Catfishing Work? A catfish is someone who lies about their identity to an online romantic interest. The person being lied to is being ‘catfished’. But what threshold of dishonesty does one have to cross to be called a catfish? They have to be Using a false identity Using a false name Using an imagined name/alias Using an imagined persona Using someone else’s picture Using someone else’s persona Usually, a catfish would either create a name and identity. They’d use someone else’s picture and build an enticing biography to go with it—something which is a lot of more exciting than their own. Most catfish claim to be models and very wealthy, too. And to keep up with the façade, some are reluctant to appear on camera or meet in real life. This part is good news for parents because it means that your children are safe from physical harm. Is Catfishing All that Bad? While the catfish is online, they’re prepared to have long-term relationships—even if they’re only through texting—but this means they communicate with your kids on a daily basis. But then there’s the danger that your child could be talking to anyone without true knowledge of who they really are. They could be the high school senior they say they are… or they could be middle-aged predators. But while they are behind a mask, they could be creating glamorous falsities about the luxurious lives they live. All of which would sound like a dream come true to your teen or preteen. With their grandiose perceptions of romance and their weak judgment, they become easy targets for a catfish. In other cases, the catfish could create sob stories that would make your child want to help them—by sending money, presents or other favors. This is financial fraud. But in more vile cases, some catfish use fake identities to lure in a child. The catfish is a predator using a more amiable front to gain the trust of the unsuspecting child before insisting on a real life meet up. Take the case of Sean Patrick Banks for example, who would use the online dating site Christian Mingle to find his victims. Truth is, yes, catfishing is a form of an online identity scam, and they are always harmful. How Does One Go Catfishing? So we’ve listed out everything that could go wrong if your kid gets involved with a catfish. But this begs the question—how exactly can you identify a dating scam in the first place? Here are some red flags you need to look for on your child’s phone: If you suspect someone is a catfish, run a Google Image search of their picture. If it leads back to someone else, the person your kid is talking to is a catfish. Monitor your child’s Skype and Viber chats and call logs. If they’re more willing to IM rather than appear on a video or voice call, they’re catfish. Check through your child’s contact list to see if you find an unknown name or number, and search them on the internet. These three pointers are the most basic methods of getting a catch. But if you find harmful activity on your child’s phone, get rid of them right away. Looking back, yes, 2014 did seem like the year of the catfish, as far as online dating goes. But we’re taking it upon ourselves to educate as many parents as we can on this issue so their kids can have a safer 2015.

Employee Monitoring

A New Year for Employee Engagement!

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Let’s address what was one of the most overused buzzwords of 2014, at least in the management spectrum—employee engagement. Surely the idea isn’t as novel in itself as you’d think, but somehow this year, employers found themselves reevaluating the tools through which the concept was exercised. Which makes us wonder… is employee engagement really what they think it is? Can it really be measured, contained and rectified? And will 2015 be the year this concept is truly revitalized? Here are some stats that Huffington Post have found: Perhaps the reason why the majority still remains disengaged at work is because the concept is alienated from the very premise in which it exists—the job market, and the organizational culture itself. Money vs. Engagement The recession hasn’t been too kind on anyone. It was especially chaotic for the job market because people settled for anything as long as there was employment. Didn’t matter if the liked the job or the company or even the industry so long as it came with a paycheck. And that’s where the problem lies. The recession, and the subsequent switch up of the job market has boiled down the many different elements of engagement (self-fulfillment, innovation, room for personal growth) to one: money. The Personal/Professional Paradox At home, we are liberty to do the things that please and interest us. We can create things we want, eat when we want to, take a break when we please, get a change in scenery when we’re feeling uninspired. But work is a little more constricting. We’re expected to abide by rules that determine where we sit, eat or take a break. We’re given specific targets that need to be achieved regardless of whether we’re inspired enough to do so. We’re the same people living two different lives that are expected to be mutually exclusive. One seems more fulfilling, liberating and creative. The other binding, monotonous and dull. Employee engagement as an HR tactic seems ineffective when you consider this. Because as long as work/life is treated like a dichotomy, employees won’t be engaged no matter where they are working. Employee Engagement in 2015 No amount of foosball tables, bean bags, coffee or free lunches are going to ensure employee engagement. Moving forward in 2015, we’re going to have to switch the very premise in which this concept exists—the organizational culture. As long as it remains unresponsive to changes in the way we live, interact and grow, these employee engagement tools may as well be made for machines. Foosball tables and free lunches may stimulate engagement, but it needs to come from within. And that will happen only when organizations start adapting to their employees life, not just the other way round.

A father's tale
Child Monitoring, iPhone Tracking

When the Habit of Serial-Buying Smartphones Goes Wrong—a Father’s Tale

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Another one of our readers shares the story of his young son that always wants to buy the latest iPhone. His relentless buying got him in a lot of trouble. Here’s the dad’s story in his own words… Too Many iPhones Smartphones are pretty disposable. They’re designed to fit the consumerist culture where they’re only good for about a year, then a new model comes along leaving the old one obsolete. And my 15-year-old son is every bit a slave to this cycle the tech companies have conjured. He started with buying an iPhone 4, and then he wanted an iPhone 4s, after which he wanted an iPhone 5. And when he went crazy about wanting an iPhone 5s, I had to put my foot down. He’s a serial-buyer and I just knew in my bones this habit will prove to be harmful later on. It seems like natural progression, doesn’t it? Of course a child would want an iPhone 5 after an iPhone 4. But I’ll be honest, I earn a monthly wage, and I can’t really tend to his serial buying habits anymore. So apparently, my son decided if I’m not buying it for him, he’ll just find another way. And he got himself into so much trouble after that. The First Bad Experience Without my knowledge, my son went online to sell his iPhone 5. He found a buyer who lived nearby and drove 2 hours to meet him. He drove two hours to meet with a complete stranger! There are so many things that are wrong here, but let me list down the few dangers that concerned me most. He is too young to have a permit He borrowed his friend’s car without my permission He drove far off without telling me so I wouldn’t know if something happened to him He planned to meet with a stranger he met online He went completely on his own He did all of this while I was at work. The person he met with was in his 20s, so he realized he could easily fool a 15-year-old. The person paid my son a lot lower than what they had originally agreed on, and hitched a ride with my son to a neighborhood I don’t trust at all. The Second Bad Experience You’d think this would be it, but I should be so lucky. Once he had sold enough things to get money for a new smartphone, my son found someone online who was selling his ‘mint-condition’ iPhone 5s. Once more, he drove all the way himself to go meet the seller. And here’s what happened. The seller, who must have been no older than 25, demanded that he be given the money first. When my son argued that he wants to see the smartphone first, the seller produced a gun, held it to my son’s head and took all his money without giving him the phone. And then he just ran for it, leaving my son alone and afraid. My Tech Remedy I can’t begin to explain to you the horror I felt when my son finally confessed what he’s been up to. That’s when I decided I needed a better way to curb his serial-buying disease. I installed a parental control app on his phone. This way, I could track wherever he was, and I could keep an eye on his browsing habits. I know always know if he’s trying to buy/sell online, or if he’s anywhere outside of a 5-mile radius. Kids are always going to want new things, but we need to find a way to control this need. Reading the mother’s tech horror story on your blog inspired me to share my own, because I agree with her completely. Giving kids phones is not the problem. (Phentermine) Giving them phones without proper monitoring is. Does your parenting horror story need to be heard? Let us know in the comments below!

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