I am part of the PTPA Brand Ambassador Program with TeenLimit and I received compensation as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own. #KeepYourTeenSafe.

I never imagined I would become my mother constantly uttering how much things have changed since I was a kid… yet here I am with my jaw to the floor as I look around my house and realize my children are living in a very different world than I did when growing up. Technology has taken over their lives… they use iPads in school more than note paper, they can ask questions to our Amazon echo rather than look it up in a book and my two year old can navigate my cell phone with ease. The age in which children are getting cell phones now has decreased greatly and you are hard pressed to find an 11 year old without one in their school bag. And not just any cell phone… a smartphone! That is a very scary world to enter… you worry about cyber bullying, inappropriate web content, your child being able to contact strangers and being able to rack up hefty cell phone bills! So how exactly do we protect out teen on their smartphone?

Set Clear Guidelines/Rules

Make sure that you have clear guidelines set when it comes to your teens smartphone and a punishment in place for when the rules are broken. They should be educated on the dangers of texting and driving, help your teen find a solution for putting their cell phone out of sight/out of mind while driving. Discuss that not only is sharing inappropriate pictures via text message and social media unacceptable, but that those images are out there once sent and can not be taken back. These leads to cyberbullying… which sadly is a very serious issue among teens. Make sure that your child know that they can come to you if they are ever being bullied online. You also need to have a conversation about how much harm they can cause by bullying others.

Social Media Is A Privilege Not A Right

This is a a touchy subject and my opinions will not necessarily align with yours, but I am happy to share my thoughts on this topic. I personally believe that a parent should have all passwords to their teens social media accounts. While I don’t believe you should be invasive and read through all their messages, but you should defiantly make it a point that you will be monitoring their account. You also need to have a conversation with your teen about the information that they share on their social media accounts. Make sure that social media accounts are set on private so statuses can only be seen by people that follow your teen. I think it is also very important to talk to your child about the importance of making sure they are only posting appropriate content because it can effect their future. It is very common for potential employers and even college admission officers to check your teen’s social media presence!

Monitor Your Teen’s Smartphone

What if I told you that there was a very simple solution to having parental control on your teen’s phone that allows you to monitor their screen use and guarantees their online safety wherever they are. You can easily install this parental control on your teen’s Android device, manage the time they spend on it and even remote monitor their use from your own phone… how amazing does that sound!? TeenLimit is a simple tool to manage your teens’ screen time and ensure their online safety. This parental control is divided into two apps, the kid app (available for Android) and the parental app (available for iOS and Android.) The purpose of the kid app is to teach teens how to use their phone responsibly and to tackle screen addiction and dangerous activity.

Just look at how simple it is for you to manage your teen’s smartphone! While the premium kid app offers many amazing features, for just $3.29 a month you can have the premium parent version which will include time management, app blocking, remote control, internet filtering, geolocation, anstant configuration, activity report and real-time notification.

Teens are connected to their smartphones more than ever and their devices are becoming such a significant part of their daily lives. Make sure that your child is protected from the threats and concerns such as screen addiction, lack of sleep, access to inappropriate content and more. Download TeenLimit today and see what a difference this app can make for both you and your teen!