IS YOUR TEEN USING KIK? DOWNLOAD THE FAMILYTIME APP TO FIND OUT!

Children as young as 11 years of age are using mobile devices nowadays. The instant messaging apps offered by smartphones and electronic gadgets keep children hooked to their devices 24/7. Among such apps, Kik is a popular instant messaging service that many children use for texting and socially interacting with the other users who have an account on Kik. Using this app, teenagers can exchange their photos and videos with their peers. Kik restricts its users to make an account only when they are 17+ but regrettably, many younger children use this messaging app without informing their parents and usually become victims of digital dangers.

Dangers Associated with Kik

Imagine your teenager being exposed to not only one, but several strangers who can even turn out to be sexual predators or abductors. How dangerous it is for any child! Kik makes it extremely easier for predators to communicate with teenagers. Parents may consider it harmless for their child to use an instant messaging app that connects them with their friends online. However, what parents do not realize is the danger that teens face because of predators online who suggest teens to send them their nudes. They begin by sending younger children explicit photos and urge them to come online while they are naked. Adult content is easily found on Kik messenger. The hidden dangers of this app are:

• Linked Websites: Many pop-up links or automated programs trick the users and direct them to porn sites. It is crucial to realize that porn sites are addictive for younger teens, they may start watching porn regularly after clicking on a link accidentally.
• Chat Now: This option available on the Kik messenger makes it possible for users to talk to people who are not in their friend circle.
• Anonymity: Kik allows users to stay anonymous, this practice encourages predators to use this app to manipulate their victims easily. A teen using Kik may start talking to a con artist, a sexual predator or any other criminal online.

For older teenagers who are mature enough to differentiate between a friend and a predator, Kik is definitely a useful app. It depends on a teen’s maturity, whether they give up all their personal information to other Kik users or not. Therefore, it is important for parents to guide their children about online safety and privacy. Being a parent, one needs to digitally monitor their teen’s online activities with the help of a parenting tool as efficient as the FamilyTime app. Get to know which apps your teen has installed and how much time your teen devotes to a particular app by using FamilyTime. Or lock your teen’s device remotely to keep their screen usage under control. And this is not all. There is a lot more that parents can do with the app such as contact monitoring, SMS tracking, call log monitoring, Contact Watch listing, Web history monitoring, Location tracking, Geo-fencing place, Alerts and much more. There as a parent, you may find a variety of valuable features once you download FamilyTime app.You can download the app from Google play store, from iTunes or just by clicking the buttons below:

FAMILYTIME APP – THE BEST TOOL TO MONITOR KIDS IN THE DIGITAL WORLD!

Every day it becomes more difficult to disconnect kids from the Internet. Between free Wi-Fi connection points, affordable family data plans and quick connections in the houses, it would seem that to disconnect kids, a well-calculated effort must be made. This is a real challenge for parents because every day it also becomes more difficult to control and monitor what our children do on the Internet and social networks. But there are too many points that must be blocked. Let me explain you.

The not-so-old advice was to make friends with their children on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and know what they are doing on Instagram. This can still work in some cases, but the reality is that we need a paradigm shift. We have to admit that we have no idea what they are doing or where they are doing it. The recent wave of suicides on Facebook shows us that monitoring the activity of our children in one or two social networks is not enough. We have to stop monitoring only the applications they are using and we have to monitor the device. To really know what is happening, you need to be able to monitor:

• The sites they visit
• The applications that they are using
• How are they using them
• Social networks or social applications that are being used
• The photos that they are taking
• The images they are sharing
• The messages that they are sending and receiving
• Understand each of the applications they have installed
• Of course, understand the abbreviations they use to communicate via text
• Places that they physically visit

When we monitor the phone, the computer or the tablet, we can see what they are doing no matter what application they are using. If you really want to know what is happening in your child's life, if they are being bullied, if they are the bully, if they are being harassed or are trying to explore sites that are not appropriate for their age, you need to stop pretending that you know everything and monitor them seriously. How do you do that?

First, the basics. Never deliver electronic equipment such as a smartphone, iPod Touch, iPad or other tablet and of course, a computer, to a child without adjusting the controls designed to protect them. These options vary depending on the operating system, but the effects are generally similar between those found blocking adult sites, banning explicit content, use of inappropriate applications such as games of violence, etc. One application that proves extremely beneficial in this regard is FamilyTime app. With this app in hand, parents can perform all the above mentioned tasks with a lot of others, including contact monitoring, contact Watchlisting, application blocker, Geo-fencing, teen safe drive option, alerts and much more. Do you want to have a look at the app yourself and give it a try for free? You can! Go now to the app store on your phone and install the trial version of the app from there. You can also get this app in a jiffy just by hitting the buttons given below:

THE PROBLEMS FACED BY SINGLE PARENTS AND SOLUTIONS!

There are many challenges that are unique to single parenthood, regardless of gender. However, there are many ways to overcome these challenges. Although being a single mother is demanding, it can be very rewarding by managing time and money limitations. Reaching out to friends and family for support and assistance whenever possible is the key. To help all single parents out there, here we have compiled a list of problems that they face with the solutions that work for them. Have a look!

Common problems in Parenting as a Single Parent

Some of the common problems faced by single parents are:

1. The need to have help for household chores, something that will reduce play time and quality with your children.
2. Children may have problems with authority figures who expect unconditional obedience.
3. Single parents may feel the need to have company with other adults, but not find time for it because they must be in charge of their children all the time.
4. It can be difficult for a parent to apply positive discipline at home when he spends a lot of time outside the home in order to get money.
5. You may feel some envy of other parents who have more organized or more harmonious lifestyles with their partners.
6. Having new relationships can be complicated, especially if you have a child with a tendency to be jealous.

Solution to Cope with all these Problems:

To cater to every problem mentioned above, here are some solutions:

1. You as a single parent should try to balance your work and family life as to run your house effectively, you need money.
2. Communicate all your problems with your kids so they become the supporting hand
3. Try to be friend with your kids so they remain close to you even if you stay busy in earning for them
4. Make use of the trendy family locator apps for iPhone such as FamilyTime that connects you with your kids even on the go and enable them to get in touch with you in a single tap from anywhere. 
5. Participate in your community. A group of people who support you can provide you with emotional support and a sense of belonging. And that is the perfect antidote against the isolation that comes with being a single mother or father.
6. Accept the help you get. For some people, this is easy to say, but difficult to do.
7. Make contingency plans. It's midnight, your baby has a fever and you do not have medicine. Or, you are also sick, throwing up and can not take care of your baby. Without the presence of another adult in your life, what can you do? It is important to be prepared for this type of situation. Find out if there is an emergency child care service in your area. Keep in mind that these services can be expensive, but they can get you out of a hurry. 

With these simple tips, you can manage to cope with the parenting problems. So make use of these and simplify parenting!

Since mobile devices have become a common part of our lives, it is not surprising to see every other teenager flaunting an iPhone. With all the attractive features an iPhone offers to its users, it is not easy for teenagers to fight the temptation of using their phones all the time.

Why do Parents Use Parental Apps?

The iPhone parental apps help parents in making sure that there is a balance maintained between their teen’s online and offline lives. Parental apps are your best source to provide digital detox to your children. However, as a parent, you need to make sure your teen understands the idea of digital monitoring before downloading a parental app. While monitoring your teen’s online conduct digitally, only choose a parental app that works with the consent of children. Any app that encourages spying on children can damage your relationship with your teen in case they find out that you are looking over their activities without their knowledge. One such iPhone parental app that works only with the mutual agreement of parents and children is the FamilyTime app. FamilyTime allows parents to effectively manage their teen’ tech time by providing them following valuable features:

• View the list of the apps installed on the device along with their usage frequency to block the ones that are addictive for teenagers since digital apps are the biggest reason of excessive screen time in teenagers
• Go through their teen’s phonebook to identify any suspicious contact. 
• Monitor call logs of kids and stay updated about who do they connect with
• Track the sent or received text messages on teen’s iPhone to make sure their teen is not suffering from compulsive texting disorder.
• Watchlist suspicious contacts. Once parents put any contact in the Watchlist, they can receive instant alerts if there is any interaction between that number and their teen.
• Have a look at the frequently visited URLs  with date and time stamps on their teen’s iPhone along with the web-browsing history and the bookmarks on their phone to know what kind of content their teen explores online.
• Schedule auto screen locks on teen’s iPhone or lock their device remotely to keep them away from screens for a while.

On an average, a teenager spends 8-9 hours a day while using screens. By simply using parental apps, parents can manage their tech time in a more significant manner. Parental apps like FamilyTime are quite easy to use and are easily available on iTunes. Parents can also get the app by clicking the buttons below!

As long as you ignore your family while being busy on your phones, you cannot expect your teenager to learn cell phone etiquettes. Keep your tech usage in check especially when children are around.

INTERNET RISKS FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

The children and adolescents who can access the Internet have a whole world of possibilities within their reach where they have a lot of valuable information, but there may also be situations that threaten their privacy or security. It should not be forgotten that children themselves can be those who break the law through the Internet, as in the case of copyright, or insults or defamation.

Children should be trained to know what cannot be done on the Net and to recognize their own and others' illegal actions. The main risks that children can face are:

1. Access to inappropriate content or images, either intentionally or by mistake.
2. There are Internet scams with incentives, such as technology or money devices, that can induce them to transmit personal data such as the phone number or credit card.
3. Children and youth who spend hours in front of computers run the risk of isolating themselves and having problems in their social relationships.
4. There are numerous viruses that are on pages and installed on the computer automatically, and that can steal data and images stored in the device.
5. The advertising of some web pages may contain images with high-level sexual content or ideas harmful to minors.
6. Sedentary lifestyle and screen abuse can cause serious health problems, such as childhood obesity, eye strain or cervical lesions.
7. Also the use of touch-sensitive mobile phones can cause bruising on the extensor tendons of the thumb, an injury that can rise to the wrist and cause chronic pain.
8. Access to online chats with other users can put children in contact with people who are looking for victims to engage in sexual harassment and who try to establish a friendly relationship to get the child to send erotic photos to them.
9. Another of the abuses that can occur on the Internet is grooming, where a pedophile or sexual harasser uses a false profile to get in touch with children or adolescents in social networks and obtain data, images, or even the keys to access to the accounts of minors. With this, he manages to blackmail minors by threatening to make public all the information they have been getting if their wishes are not fulfilled.
10. The cyberbullying is another serious Internet risks for children and youth. It is the harassment by a person who seeks to destroy others’ self - esteem by using technological means.

What Can Parents Do?

In order to tackle all these issues tactfully, parents are needed to take smart steps such as installing the app for parents to monitor their kids’ phone. With the app in hand, parents can not only see the content they browse on the internet or the apps they use but, also the contacts they save in their device, SMS they receive or sent and calls they make etc. There are many apps in the market but the one extraordinary is FamilyTime as the app offers much more than what is listed above. Want to know what are its offered features? You can check it by giving the app a free try. To get the app now, either visit the app store on your phone or simply click on the buttons given below: