Monitoring Teens Through Cell Phones

Author: Alyice Edrich

Teenagers need boundaries. They need rules and regulations and they need to know what consequences they face if they break them. But they also need parents to loosen the reigns so they can grow up to become responsible, young adults; which means teenagers are in a tough spot. They’re too young to be without parental guidance and supervision, but they’re too old to be holding mom and dad’s hands.

With so many parents working 40+ hours per week, parents don’t always have the luxury of being home when their teens get out of school. So how can hard-working parents keep a watchful eye on their teenagers? Through the use of cell phones, of course.

With the purchase of a wireless cell phone plan, parents can stay in constant contact with their teens and keep a watchful eye on their whereabouts. “Cell phones are an invaluable resource for a mother’s sanity…they offer safety, security and peace of mind,” says Patty Zasloff, mother of two teenage girls and owner of TheFullerBrushPlace.com.

Without proper adult supervision, teens can get into all sorts of trouble. But, there’s a fine line between monitoring a teen’s whereabouts and spying on them. And that fine line could mean the difference between saying, “Hey, son, we trust you” or “Hey, son, we don’t trust you.” It could also mean the difference between compliant children, and those that secretly (or outwardly) defy everything their parents stand for.

Teaching Responsibility

So how can we, as parents, let our teens know we trust them, but we don’t trust the world around them? We start by helping them understand the difference between right and wrong. We help them choose safe activities and safe friends. We show them how to safely use the Internet, email, instant messaging, and text messaging. We let them know that as parents, we have a right and duty to know where they are and what they are doing at all times. And then we hand them a cell phone and a set of rules they must follow.

Rules such as:

You must always leave your cell phone on when you are out of our sight. If you need to turn off the sound, put the phone on vibrate.
You must always answer the phone when we call. To know it’s us, use a special ring tone and/or vibration mode.
You must never use your cell phone to cause harm to another human being or do anything illegal, such as spamming.
You are not allowed to use your cell phone during school hours unless there is an emergency. If you are caught using your cell phone during school hours, you will be put on restriction for one month.
You have xx amount of minutes per month. If you go over those minutes, you will pay for them out of your allowance (or job).
If you continually go over your minutes, we’ll either cancel your phone or restrict you to a prepaid wireless plan in which your phone will no longer work when you go over your allotted minutes.
Your cell phone is to be turned off when we’re all at home and placed in its charger; ready to go for the next day.
Your cell phone doesn’t have long distance service; therefore, you’re not to call out of (specify) calling area. If you make long distance calls, you’ll be required to do chores around the house to cover the costs at 15 minutes of work per one minute of call time. If you continue to make long distance calls, your cell phone privileges will be suspended.
If you lose or break your cell phone, there are consequences. Consequences like being put on house restriction until we can afford a new cell phone, or until you can purchase a new one with your own money.
We reserve the right to go over your phone bill every month to know who you are talking to, when you’re talking to them, and how long you’re talking. (Teens should never be talking to other adults without your permission and they should never be talking on their cell phones during school hours.)

When used properly, cell phones can be a valuable asset to keeping the lines of communication open, but they can also provide a false sense of security when used as the sole source of monitoring a teen’s activities. It’s important for parents and teenagers to understand that cell phones are a tool and as such have limitations.

Monitoring Teens Through Cell Phones

Author: Alyice Edrich

Teaching Responsibility

Read more parenting tips