If your child has a cell phone, make sure they are safe!

Reports involving children being victimized through their phone, the internet, or even in person has had a slight increase over the past few months and although I have talked about this subject in the past, because of its importance, I feel we should go over it again. Children have access to an entire world today because of advancements in technology that many of us did not have in our childhood. It was common to explain to your parent where you were going for the evening, who would be there, and what you would be doing, before the parent would give permission for their child to go somewhere. Most parents still ask these types of questions of their child because they understand the dangers that can occur if their child is somewhere with little supervision. We teach children at a young age not to talk to strangers, not to wonder off, etc. But today, children are becoming victimized even though they are in the safe environment of their own home. It is very disheartening to see so many parents who become heartbroken because of what happened to their child even though they thought they were being careful and protecting their child from the dangers in this world. I have had several parents ask me recently about the dangers with children having access to smartphones and the internet and this is what I have begun to tell any parent that asks that question:

If you would not let your child leave the house without knowing where they were going, how long they would be gone, and who they would be with, then don't give them a smartphone that you do not monitor. It is becoming more and more common for children to download "hidden apps" that allow them to chat, send pictures and have live video calls. These apps can look like a calculator, a game, or any other app that would not look suspicious at all. We find that most parents do not think of monitoring a phone that closely, because the dangers involved are not the same as they were several years ago. We have worked cases where teen girls thought they were talking to other teen boys they met online, only to discover they were talking to adults. We have worked cases where people from other states, or even countries have used online apps to gain access to all the content of children's phones, and many times it is extremely hard to track down the suspect.

I am always surprised to find that many parents do not know they have the right to monitor anything on their child's devices. A child does not have an expectation of privacy for their computer or phone from their parent. It is believed that four out of five children who have a smartphone will have photos, text messages, or friends/contacts that their parent would not approve of and would not allow if they had known. Having a cell phone 24/7 does not just mean the child has unlimited access to the cyber world at all times, it also means other people also have access to your child at all times. Here is what we recommend for smartphones that are given to small children: make sure you have the password to their phone or any apps that are password protected. If the child is on Facebook, look at their friends list on a regular basis and make sure you know who the people are. Look through their apps frequently. If an app was installed on the phone, look it up on the internet and make sure it is a safe app. Most people don't think about checking out the apps on their child's phone, but there are apps out there that will allow people to monitor your child's location. Protecting their child is every parent's priority, but there are new dangers that were not around before and it will take a proactive approach to make sure your child does not become a victim of a cybercrime.