 BlackBerry Parental Controls
Teens Using Cell Phones: What can we do to keep them safe?
If you are reading this article it is probably because your teen has a BlackBerry smartphone.
The BlackBerry smartphone has been around for more than a decade already. It has always been seen as the “businessman’s smartphone”, often seen in the hands of a high-powered corporate executive. A new trend which we have just noticed is that now is that many teens are BlackBerry® users.
While there are many benefits for your teen to have BlackBerry, there are still precautions that need to be taken.
Teens And Text Messaging - BlackBerry® Safety
Text messaging has become the next new craze among young people worldwide. But how can a parent know what their teen is doing
on the cell phone?
What is "sexting"? Sexting is a combination of the words “sex” and “text messaging” - Sexting is the sending of sexually provocative messages or visual images to and from cell phones and computers. Kids as young as 9 years old may be doing in it, according to the research of Susan Lipkins, a psychologist specializing in bullying and hazing.
Many parents may never have heard of it, but surveys show that 20 to 60 percent of teens are doing it. While this troubling trend continues full speed ahead, parents, teachers and lawmakers are struggling to react appropriately to the phenomenon that puts kids at risk for exploitation, harassment, and even felony charges. Read about BlackBerry Text Message Spying.
There are steps adults can take to inform teens of the dangers of sexting and road blocks that can be put into place to minimize negative usage of cell phones by children and teens. BlackBerry Spy Software is the latest technology to help parents monitor their childs calls, emails, GPS location and more.
What Parents Can Do?
 BlackBerry® Parental Control software such as Mobile Spy offers parents the ability to keep tabs or spy on their Teens BlackBerry® smartphone use by monitoring an array of cell phone activities such as emails, text messages and even their GPS location.
 Mobile Spy BlackBerry Spy Software is a hybrid software/service which allows parents to record all cell phone activity in real time. If your teen has a BlackBerry® then you can install Mobile Spy onto the phone and perform
monitoring tasks. Once installed, it will
then run silently, record all activities and store the information in your secure online account - which can viewed from anywhere.
BlackBerry® Parental Controls Software Recording Features
- Record All Call Logs
- Record SMS (Text Messages)
- Record Contacts
- Record Cell ID Locations
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- Record GPS Locations Log
- Record E-Mail Log
- Record Tasks
- Record Photo & Video Log
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After the BlackBerry® Parental Control software is setup on your phone it will record
an array of phone activities and then silently upload the data
to your private Mobile Spy account using GPRS. When you want
to view results, simply login to your password protected online control panel from
any computer.
10 Tips Parents Can Give Their Teens About using Cell Phones
1. Only give out your cell phone number to
people you know for sure you can trust.
2. Do not take any cell phone pictures or video
that are sexual in nature. First off, if they involve
nudity or partial nudity, they are illegal and classified
as child pornography ‐ a felony offense in most states.
The intent of the parties does not matter, nor does
whether permission was granted. Secondly, they
have the tendency to get into the hands of the wrong
people. Tell them to think about their reputation.
3. Tell your teen not not to send texts or capture pictures or video
on the cell phone that they wouldn't feel
comfortable sharing with you (the parent).
4. Tell them to ask themselves how they'd feel if the text they sent
or the picture or video they captured were broadcast
all across their school, and all across the Internet. Even
if your teen does not personally send it around, others can and
often do.
5. Remind them that all of the text, photos, and videos
they create with the phone are saved and available
as digital evidence. They are either stored on the
servers of your cell phone provider, or on your cell
phone provider's web site in your individual web‐
accessible account, or on the flash memory or SIM
card of your phone and on other phones ‐ even if you
have deleted them.
6. Explain to them that schools can take their cell phone when they
have reasonable suspicion that it has been involved
in some violation of school policy or the law.
7. Be hard on this one: Never text and drive. No text is worth losing
your life over, or taking someone else's. If something
is urgent, pull the vehicle over to a safe place before
dealing with it.
8. Remember that having a cell phone is a
privilege and not a right. Treat it as such.
Appreciate that your parents have allowed you to
have one (and often purchased it for you), and you'll
earn more of their respect. Many youth have
sabotaged their future (e.g., admission into college,
scholarships, job opportunities, legal problems and
costs, criminal prosecution, being placed on sex
offender registries) because they have misused
computers or cell phones. It is NOT worth it.
9. Tell them not to respond to text messages from numbers
and people they don't know. Learn how you can
block certain individuals (via their cell phone
numbers) from contacting you and teach your teen how to do it as well. Don't subject
your teen to people who are mean to
them when you can keep them from sending any
messages.
10. Lastly, let your teen know to keep the cell phone keypad locked (and the
PIN or password safe and private), so that others
can't grab it, unlock it, and use it to get you into
trouble when you're not looking.
 Virgin
Mobile USA’s Top 10 Tips for Teen Cell Phone Safety:
1) Pre-program all key contact numbers for parents or other
responsible adults into a teen’s cell phone, both for
home and work.
2) Make sure to program an ICE (”in case of emergency”)
number with appropriate contact information, so that police
and other emergency personnel know who to call if the child
needs help. This means you list a number so it appears as ICE
on the alphabetical contacts list.
3) Make sure they know they can use “911? for emergencies
from cell phones as well.
4) One can also use the preprogrammed keys #2-9 [#1 usually
is preset to dial voicemail] using #2 for 911, #3 for home,
etc.
5) Remind teens not to say their phone number, name or
other personally identifiable information out loud in crowded
settings. They never know who might be listening.
6) Teens must be reminded that talking on handsets while
driving is a dangerous, and in many states, illegal, distraction
and should be avoided. Ear “buds” are useful for
talking on the phone but still require dialing, which should
not be done while driving. Some phones offer voice-activated
dialing; if so, the voice activations should be done in advance.
Ideally, teens should pull over in a safe place, turn the car
off, keep doors locked and then make their necessary call.
7) Fun features on cell phones like texting (text messaging), downloading ring tones or instant messaging
are great, but it is important to use them in the appropriate
time and place. Not only does this relate to courtesy toward
others, even more important is to remind teens to remain aware
of their surroundings (such as crossing a busy street or walking
alone at night) while using the phone.
8) Remind them not to use their phone at school.
9) They should give out their cell phone numbers only
to people that they know and trust and they should never respond
to text messages from an unknown or unrecognizable number.
10) Teach teens how to block suspicious or unwanted numbers
from their cell phones.
- ParentalSoftware.org |
