Even Dr. Phil Isn’t Safe. By Kimberly Watkins-Swenk
“C
I guess you know where I am going with this story; the value of phone monitoring software. You may not realize that the software is for your kid and your kid’s friends.
atch me outside.” “Have you ever heard of this girl? The Catch Me Outside girl?”
I picked up my phone coming in from playing with my younger son, who was seven at the time. The call was from my friend - the same one from last month’s column. “Who? Oh, that girl from the Dr. Phil Show. Her accent was so thick I thought it was “cash me outside.” (Note: if you don’t know who I am talking about, google “Dr. Phil + Catch Me Outside.”) I won’t go into the details behind the Catch Me Outside girl. That is beside the point of this column. I will tell you, my friend’s son got into a Twitter war with said girl, and he was only in the 7th grade. “He isn’t even supposed to have social media. He is only in the 7th grade, but he got online via a friend’s phone and got into a (insert a nasty word) Twitter war with her.”, my friend said.
don’t know the software the friend’s mom uses records everything that happens on the phone.”
“How did you even find out he did it? How did he have a Twitter account?” I asked. “Agh, the mom of the kid who owned the phone called me and said she saw her kid was on Twitter. She asked her son about it because he isn’t supposed to have Twitter, and he ratted out Matt.” That is the name I am using this month for my friend’s son. “My son’s friends dared him to start a Twitter war with her, and bam, my kid, is an online bully. I swear Matt is going to be the death of me.” My kids were young at the time, so I wasn’t fully aware of all the phone monitoring software that was out there. “How did the mom even know the kid was on Twitter anyway? Can’t he delete his history?” “Oh, he did.”, my friend responded. “But they
Kids are NOTORIOUS for creating fake social media accounts and checking them on friend’s phones and even at libraries. By having a phone monitoring program, the chances of other kids using your kid’s phone significantly decrease. I use Bark because it has a privacy setting that allows my kids to have some privacy but alerts me to certain words or actions. You can set your alerts to High, which I do, or to Low, which allows more freedom. Bark was an excellent response to my kids’ “demand” for privacy. Regardless of which software you go with, you need to have some protection on your kid’s phone. Kids are intelligent and sneaky. You need to stay ahead of the game because even Dr. Phil isn’t safe from the effects of kids on their phones. Kimberly Watkins-Swenk is a social media professional and also OTM’s Digital Content Director & Editor. Kimberly and her family split their time between Smyrna and Durango, Colorado. She is married to Jason and has two sons, Luke and Chase, and two cats she loves more than anything.
NOW Enrolling Toddler 1 - Pre-K 4! Get an early start!
PAGE 28
Our Town
