Tech

Is Your Teen Involved in Some Dangerous Activity Online? Find Out Now 

A few days back, I asked my teen, a 15-year-old boy, to come to play baseball with me. We have been playing baseball since he was a toddler. I’m a huge baseball fan so I wanted to pass down my favourite sport to my kid. 

Not once in his life, my kid has turned me down for a baseball match. However, last week he did. He said he wasn’t interested in playing the game with me because he was busy playing games online with his friends. When I checked in on his mobile while he was playing some game, I realized he had joined a gaming platform that also allowed him to have private conversations. 

On asking about the private chats, he ignored me by saying texting is just an added feature of the gaming platform and that he doesn’t pay much attention to it. His behaviour towards everything was changing and I could notice that. He stayed pretty much aggravated and angry most of the time. When I read about gaming platforms on the internet, I found out that they could have devastating effects on young minds. 

Several dangers are lurking in these online gaming platforms that could lead teens to anxiety and depression. The only way to find out whether or not my teen was in danger on this gaming platform was to install Android spy software on his Android cell phone. 

How Can Gaming Platforms Be Harmful to Your Teen?

On reading about the dangers and risks associated with gaming platforms on the internet, I realized they were not a safe zone for our kids. Online dangers such as cyberbullying, sexting, and, violence are way too common on gaming platforms. 

Sexual predators were also found in high numbers on these online gaming platforms. They joined the gaming platforms as kids, play games with your kids, lure them into believing that they are genuine and are of their age, and send them direct messages in a private conversation. 

These predators become friends with your kids and get private information from them such as their home addresses and contact numbers. Later, they demand inappropriate pictures from your kids only to blackmail them. 

On the other hand, cyberbullying is also extremely common on online gaming platforms. Kids send threatening and hurtful messages to one another if one of them loses the game. This can cause the victim to feel embarrassed which may lead them to depression and anxiety. 

You need to notice the behavioural changes in your teens to realize whether or not they are safe on the internet. Apart from cyberbullying and pedophilia, your teens can be exposed to many other risks on gaming platforms. 

Therefore, you need to know which games your teens are into and what online gaming platforms they have joined to play games with their friends. Also, keep an eye on their private chats. 

Monitor Your Teen’s Online Activity 

It is extremely important to find out whether or not your teen is involved in some dangerous activity online. This will help you know about the truth right on the time and also help you save your teen before the situation gets out of your hands. 

For teens who are against the idea of their parents monitoring their online activity, parents can use a free spy app for Android undetectable on their cell phones and spy on their activity. Even though spying on your teen without them knowing may not seem like a great idea and may also not go down too well with your kids, you need to do it to protect your teen from online dangers. 

In other situations, you can take your teen into your confidence and tell them that you will be installing a parental control or monitoring app on their phone to monitor their online activity. Tell them why you will be monitoring their online activity. The monitoring app will be installed to ensure their online safety and not meant to invade their online privacy. 

When I came to know about parental control and monitoring apps, I instantly liked the idea and selected one. I discussed the idea with my teen about installing the monitoring app on their phone and told him that I want to know what you have been doing on the internet lately. 

First, he became quiet and then didn’t speak for a few minutes. I went on with the conversation and told him that I didn’t mean to invade his online privacy. I wanted to check on his online activity because I wanted to make sure he stayed away from online dangers and that I didn’t want him to be exposed to all those risks on the gaming platforms he spent so much time on. 

I was thankful that he got my point and agreed with having a monitoring app installed on his Android phone. Once the app was installed, I could monitor his text messages, his instant chats, and his online web browsing. I could also see the games he was playing with his friends on gaming platforms. Whenever a stranger got in touch with him on the platform, I blocked his profile so he couldn’t contact my teen. 

 

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