Ask the meaning of any teen slang phrase from your teen, he/she will never say, “I don’t know this”. Instead he/she will say, “Okay, give me a minute, let me Google it!” Well, it’s very smart and cool if your teen can get to know anything online, but the question is, it good all the time? And is the content on the Web safe for them all the time? Actually it isn’t. To some extent we all are dependent on the Internet today, but 24/7 access to the Internet is making teens dumb and over-reliant. You can let them explore and learn online but not in a way that can harm their mental abilities.
Terrible fact: Teens don’t want books anymore! Technology making teen dumb!!
Reading books and shaping the thoughts is very important for the youth, but unfortunately, they are avoiding their books and do you know why? It’s because they can type any question in the Google search bar and get the ample answers. And yes, we can’t ignore the use of search engines at the school. Teens are using their smartphones as their virtual cheat sheets in their exams, test and their everyday tasks. Stopping them from using their favorite gadgets won’t make any thing right, the better way is to let them use the tech but control when they shouldn’t use the gadgets and monitor the usage.
Information is not the Knowledge!
Searching for the info and getting help from the Internet has adverse impact on the teens’ cognition. It’s not only limited to a short-span impact, in fact, the influence could be long-lasting. Looking for the material online and copy-pasting the info won’t make any teen understand their assignments and assessments!
What you could do?
Although it seems hard to control the Internet usage of teens, but it isn’t. You can discuss, settle and set the rules regarding the use; moreover, you can use the mobile monitoring apps to keep the Web informative.
Get involved
The first and foremost thing you have to do is; get to know how they use the Internet. Your teens need your supervision and guidance for using the smartphones safely. Talk about what they do online, discuss how they use the info, and set limits for using smartphone during the school hours.
Monitoring the usage
Discussion can make difference but it’s not the complete solution to this problem. You have to actively monitor them. What you have to do is, monitor their smartphone usage and if you find that they are abusing the info online and using the smartphone as cheat sheets, then you can go for using some controls and locks.
There are a lot of Android parental controls but if you are looking for an advanced app to monitor 24/7 and set limits then FamilyTime Android Parental Controls is the suitable option. You can use download this app from Google Play and iTunes as well, as its compatible with all versions of Android phone, iPhones and Kindle.
Keep the Internet helpful not hurtful!
Internet is a very helpful and informative resource but only if the teens use it carefully. Using the Internet to solve their exams, test etc is very harmful for their own development. Let them get help from the Web but keep it informative not a source of cheating. Keep the teens good in their learning abilities and keep the smartphones helpful not harmful! And for that matter, apps like FamilyTime are always there to help you out!
