According to a new study, social media is associated with an increased risk for depression, anxiety, loneliness, and even suicidal thoughts and limiting it can make you feel less depressed and lonely.

Especially for teenagers, social media is working like poison from affecting their mental health and lowering their self-esteem; it is now ruling their lives.

Source: Marketing Land

According to a survey, 90% of teens ages 13-17 have used social media.75% report having at least one active social media profile, and 51% report visiting a social media site daily. 

A tenth-grade student, when asked about “How has social media influenced your relationships with friends and family?”

 This student writes that the teen’s way of life has completely evolved from what it was twenty years ago. Now, there is a dramatic reduction in face-to-face communication, reducing our generation’s ability to interact with others on a speaking level.”

Social Networking affects teenagers’ communication skills and has some adverse effects on their physical and mental health. Let’s discuss the adverse effects of social media on teenagers in brief.

Disadvantages Of Social Networking

Here are some adverse effects of social media sites on teenagers or young people.

1. Lack Of Emotional Connection

The problem with social media is that it lacks personal connection. We have made social media a primary mode of communication, be it birthday wishes or apologizing to someone; we use text messages rather than talking to that person on the phone or face to face.

A conversation using social media is poor because you cannot sense the other person’s feelings, and it makes you question whether they mean what they are saying.

2. Cyberbullying

Teenagers who actively use social media are more prone to get bullied; according to a study,  Around 37% of American children aged 12–17 have reported being bullied over social media platforms.

Source: First Site Guide

Cyberbullying has dangerous consequences on teens’ lives; research shows that teenagers who get bullied are likely to use drugs and alcohol, fail in exams, get health issues, and commit suicide.

3. Anxiety And Depression

Studies suggest teens who spent more time on social media are more likely to get mental health issues than teens who spend more time playing sports or other outdoor activities.

Source: Clearvue Health

According to verywellmind.com, people who have used more than seven social media sites are three times more likely to have depression than those who used less than two social media sites.

4. Reduces Face-to-Face Communication Skills

Communicating using social media has a negative impact on the communication and social skills of an individual. Whether speaking with friends or giving an interview, online communication has become a favored mode of communication.

Social media interaction affects teenagers’ speaking skills and makes them reluctant to speak face to face with their peers. It makes it difficult for teens to respond with something thoughtful while communicating face to face.

5. Lack Of Focus

We can’t deny that social media platforms are designed to retain users as long as possible. Have you ever noticed whenever you stop using any social media app, you get these notifications on your phone, telling you to open an app?

Yes, we often get these kinds of notifications. 

Social media affects a person’s quality of life by distracting them from everything. Teenagers have become obsessed with their social media profiles and followers. They are not focussing on other essential aspects of life like spending time with their families, studying, or doing physical activities.

6. Sleep Deprivation

Teenagers are getting so obsessed with social media that they are not getting enough sleep. This Insufficient sleep is associated with a bad mood, low grades, overeating, and mental health issues like depression and anxiety.

Source: Huffpost

According to UK research, Teenagers who use social media for more than three hours a day are more likely to go to bed after 11 pm and wake during the night.

Using social media at late nights makes teens tired and has adverse effects on their physical or mental health.

7. Affects Family Relationship

According to a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, kids ages 8-18 years old spent over 7 hours a day or 50 hours in a week using social media.

The various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have made teens less interested in face-to-face interactions, leading to poor communication skills, lack of focus, and difficulty maintaining relationships.

 As these children are spending enormous time surfing social media, they lose out on interpersonal relationship qualities.

What Should Parents Do?

You can take some steps to encourage your children to limit the use of social media. Here are some tips:

• Set limits: Social media is good as long as it is not interfering with your children’s daily activities like sleep, meals, or homework. Talk to your teen to limit social media use when eating, doing homework, and going to bed.
• Make clear rules: As a parent, you should make rules to limit their phones’ usage to keep them safe from the consequences of social media. You have to set a time when they are permissible to use phones and when they are not.
• Encourage them to Play sports: Physical activities not only keep your teen away from phones but also make them physically healthy or active. Encourage your teen to play some sports or go to the gym.
• Monitor your teen’s social media accounts: Keeping an eye on your teen’s social media accounts will keep you updated about their social media activities. Monitoring your teens’ accounts also helps you restrict them from doing unethical activities like spreading rumors or bullying someone.
• Encourage face-to-face communication. You should encourage your teen to focus on face-to-face communication rather than texting or emailing their peers.
• Educate your teens:  Educate your teen about various aspects of social media and how it can take a toll on their lives and affects their lifestyle. 

Remind them that there’s a lot of difference in how people pretend their lives on social media and how they are actually living.

Conclusion

It’s a proven fact that excessive social media use is associated with teenagers’ poor physical and mental health. Teens have become obsessed with social media at such a level that they do not focus on activities that are important in nourishing the family and friendships.

As a parent, you must save your teen from social media’s adverse impacts on their life. In this blog, I’ve discussed some tips that will reduce your teens’ screen time so that they can focus on other physical activities that are important for their physical and mental health.

You should remind your children that they should be savvy about social media platforms as social media is meant to ease our life not to ruin our life.

Read Also : 10 Exclusive Parental Control Apps To Keep An Eye On Kid’s Phone Uses

FAQs

Q1. What is the disadvantage of Social Networking in students?

A1. Social media distracts students from doing their homework, and regular use of social media can make students hesitant to face-to-face communication. 

According to studies,  students who are victims of cyberbullying are more likely to miss school and use alcohol or drugs. Apart from operating to communicate and make new friends, Some students use social media as a medium to hurt others by sending them an inappropriate message or harassing them.

Q2. What are the pros and cons of social media?

A2.

Q3. How Does Social Media Affect Mental Health?

A3. According to Jacqueline Sperling, Ph.D., a psychologist at McLean Hospital, social media platforms are not only addictive but are also associated with increased risk of anxiety, depression, and even physical ailments.

Teenagers often get depressed just by seeing that another person’s picture has got more likes than theirs; it raises plenty of questions in their mind like “why is my post not getting likes”? or  “why has this person not liked my picture”?

This list of questions keeps on going and going and, in the end, makes that person feel sad and depressed.

Another factor that contributes to anxiety and depression in teens is FOMO-Fear of missing out. Teenagers often have concerns that they’ll miss out on social media memes, connections, or invitations, making them anxious and sad. 

The post Disadvantages Of Social Networking: Here’s How It Affects Teens appeared first on Techieapps.

Parents may not like this, but yes, your stubborn child may have great leadership qualities that will make them successful in the future.

According to a study of 700 children from the age of 12 to 52 published in Development Psychology journal, Stubborn children at a young age are more likely to become successful as adults.

This research is conducted by six scientists; they studied around 700 children between the ages of 9 and 40 for non-cognitive personality traits. They paid particular attention to the following traits of children.

• Rule-breaking Tendency
• Sense of entitlement
• Sense of inferiority
• Inattentiveness
• Willingness not to obey their parents
• Academic Consciousness

Researchers followed up with the participants 40 years later, when children reached 50 years of age. The scientists then checked which personality traits were most common in the children who grew up to be the most successful.

After the study, what they found is pretty interesting and startling.

They concluded that children who disobeyed their parents, broke the rules, were more successful, and earned high wages.

Yes, your stubborn child is going to be rich!

The researchers speculate that the reason behind this could be children who were stubborn in their childhood turned out to become more demanding and competitive as adults; thus, they focussed more on their career and made more money.

Researchers also didn’t deny the fact that stubborn children are more likely to do some fraudulent practices to earn money.

What We Can Conclude

As per the research, if your child doesn’t want to follow the rules and sometimes disobey what you tell them, this can be the indicator then their chances of becoming successful in the future are high.

Having a stubborn child may be annoying, but this behavior will make your child bold and give them the power to share their perspective on different situations.

A stubborn behavior can prove productive for your children in the future and mold your child into a well-rounded adult.

As a parent, you mustn’t give up on your strong-willed child; instead, try to see things from their perspective.

Tips To Deal With Your Stubborn Child?

Tips To Deal With Your Stubborn Child?

Source:  Dreamstime.com

Dealing with a stubborn child can be challenging for parents, so here are some tips that will help you deal with your stubborn child.

• Make sure to keep patience while listening to your child.
• Try to perceive things from your child’s perspective.
• Try to stay calm with them.
• Learn to negotiate with your child.
• Create a positive environment at your home.
• Allow your children to express themselves.
• Identify triggers that make them more aggressive.

What Are The  Characteristics Of A Stubborn Child?

Here are some characteristics of a stubborn and strong-willed child

• Refusing to comply with rules and regulation
• They are strongly independent.
• Lack of patience
• They will do something they want to do
• They have a strong need for acknowledgment.
• They want to learn things at their speed.
• They throw tantrums more often.
• They like to be “bossy.”

Read more about Parental Control Apps To Spy Over Your Kids Activities

The post Your Stubborn Child Can Be The Next Millionaire, Study Reveals appeared first on Techieapps.

Are you? Well, you should. 

Today, it is not only adults facing cyber threat issues; the attackers are also targeting kids. Threats like cyberbullying, online predators are the common ones that we see youngsters are affected by in the digital world. 

According to Bark, over 70% of teens and 60% of tweens have experienced cyberbullying today. That is why tracking how your kid is more important. 

As per a Pew Research survey, 98% of Columbian adults and 79% of Indian adults say they fear getting their kids exposed to inappropriate content. And they need reliable parental control apps so they can spy on their kids’ devices to check what activities they have over the web. 

Therefore, whether it is cyberbullying or tired of stopping your children from using cell phones or tablets, parental monitoring apps can do a wonder for you. So, stick to this blog till the end because I will share some incredible and effective apps to track children’s phones. 

So, beginning the journey to find out the best kid tracker apps, I would like to ask you one question: Do you know what activity kids have while using their mobile phones?

No Idea!! Don’t worry; I will let you know where they are spending much time. 

According to Sellceell, 57% of kids regularly use their mobile phones for gaming, and only 18% of kids use them to complete their homework. 

It’s High Time To Monitor Kid Phone Usage: Install Parental Control App!

List Of 11 Must-Have Kid Tracking App That Parents Can’t-Miss To Download 

The parental control app does its job 24/7 to help you stay ahead of the next cyber threat. When choosing the proper app to track kids, it’s essential to identify your family’s specific needs. That means you need to check; a child phone tracker is efficient enough to have eyes on digital activities.  You need to know whether the kids are using it for fun or study. Here are some reliable, flexible kids app tracker lists:

1. Net Nanny: An Efficient Way To Track Kids Phones

Net Nanny gives you the power to monitor what your kids are doing online. With its parental control features, you can protect your child from several online dangers like cyberbullying, exposure to sexual predators, and much more. 

It is the most trusted app over the web that uses award-winning technology. The app is helpful in limiting the type of content and websites your kids can access. 

App Features:  

• Parental Controls
• Internet Filter
• Screen Time Management
• Block Pornography
• Website Blocker
• Alerts and Reporting
• Block Apps
• Social Media Protection
• YouTube Monitoring

Available For: Android, iOS

2. FamiSafe: Incredible App To Track Children’s Phone

As a parent, if you often want to monitor your kid’s digital habits, then FamiSafe makes a great deal. By FamiSafe, you can schedule when your child can access the Internet and social media to get started. 

If you wish to protect your kid from online dangers, start downloading the FamiSafe mobile app on the kid’s phone. You have the option to set up screen time restrictions using age-recommended category filters. 

App Features

• Activity Report
• Location Tracking
• App Blocker
• Screen Time
• Website Filter
• Driving History Report
• Detect Suspicious Photos
• Detect Suspicious Text

Available For: Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, and Kindle Fire.

3. Kaspersky Safe Kids: Simple Kid Cell Phone Tracker

Kaspersky SafeKids is an award-winning parental control app that helps you gather information about kids’ online activity. Such a powerful app on your kid’s device, screen time restriction becomes easy. 

You can customize various features of the app to track and monitor your child’s phone usage. It has some incredible features that alert you of any suspicious activity found on the kid’s screen.

App Features

• ONLINE CONTENT FILTER
• SAFE SEARCH IN YOUTUBE
• APPS USAGE CONTROL
• SCREEN TIME MANAGEMENT
• SCREEN TIME SCHEDULING
• CHILD LOCATOR
• BATTERY TRACKER

Available For: Android, iOS, iPad, Mac, Windows

4. Workstatus

This tracking and monitoring app keeps an eye on every activity of child by constantly taking screenshots of their activities, their productivity, and sites they explore. It helps you to find out about their common activities on internet and online consumption. you can simply install it in their PCs, iOS, Android, or other tabloids to keep it running in the background.

Workstatus works siltently in the background without hindering any regular activity of your child. It is also offering similar services to institues and schools for tracking students.

5. mSpy: Kid Tracker Phone App

mSpy is an affordable option available over the web to learn everything about your child’s phone usage. With different customizable features, mSpy is the perfect option to act as a spy for your children. 

By mSpy, you can control the time that your children use the device. Also, it is easy to set up the hours of the meals and study time.  

App Features:

• Manage Calls
• Track Text Messages
• Read Messaging Apps
• Track GPS Location
• Control Apps and Programs
• Record Their Screen
• View Multimedia Files
• Monitor Internet Activity
• Access Contacts and Calendar

Available For: Android, iOS

6. ScreenTime: Phone Tracking App For Parents

ScreenTime is one of the best apps to restrict your child’s screen usage. It allows you to set daily limits and lets you see which app your kids use the most. It comes with a unique feature where parents can pause their child’s mobile device as well. Parents can approve or disapprove of the apps to be downloaded, and it also has significant Screen Time monitoring functions. 

You can check which YouTube videos that they are watching. Just touch on the app icon to immediately block or unblock that app.  Besides, you can block or allow calls or texts from certain people.

App Features

• Check App Usage
• Daily Reports
• Web History (Android only)
• Search History (Android only)
• Up to 5 devices per account
• Daily Time Limit
• Block certain apps (Android only)
• Tasks & chores
• Instant Pause
• Free Play Mode

Available For: Android, iOS

Read More: 10 Best Personal Safety Apps For Your Smartphone In 2021!!!

7. Qustodio: Track My Kid Phone

Qustodio is one of the most well-known parental control applications out to monitor any device. All you need is download this app from the Google Play Store or Apple Play Store to your kid’s phone.

It allows you to connect the kids’ accounts with the parent account. Now, you are all ready to start monitoring each kid’s profile icon that appears on your family page. You just need to click on their profile to see their device use. 

Qustodio will show all the information that goes along with it at a glance.  That will include their time spent on their phone for the current day and reports for their screen time. 

App Features

• Cross-platform solution 
• Extended reporting
• Basic Protection
• Time limits by device
• Games & Apps blocking
• YouTube Monitoring
• Advanced Facebook Monitoring
• Call Tracking and Blocking for Android
• Family Locator

Available For: Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, and Kindle Fire.

8. Kidlogger

The Kidlogger offers lots of different features to limit screen time and ensure your kids are safe while using these devices. You can set custom time limits for each day of the week. Once this time limit is met, it has to be blocked until the next day. You can set specifically restricted times and block their screens from use. 

You can also set custom time limits or block access for specific apps.  So you can decide to block their social media sites while they get work done.  

App Feature:

• Monitoring activities
• Password-protected
• Access to analytics: Apps, Chats/SMS, Calls, Locations, Web;
• Scheduled email reports
• Backup download

Available For: Android, iOS, iPad, Mac, Windows

9. MamaBear: App To Track Kids iPhone

With MamaBear, you have total control over the kid’s phone so that you can monitor up to one kid’s device. Besides, you can have an eye over which website and YouTube link they are spending time on.

Search monitoring set screen limits and block adult content. You need to add custom limits for every app locator service.  A panic button that will let your kids quickly alert you to any danger. So if you are looking for a user-friendly and straightforward way to block and grant phone access to your kids, MamaBear is an excellent app for you to try once. 

App Features:

• View current AND prior week location history
• Create a restricted word list for social media posts
• View uploaded Instagram photos
• View tags and location check-ins on Facebook
• Receive driving/riding speed notifications
• Set up places for arrival and departure notifications
• A child can send Panic alerts to parents/guardians
• Check-in with Doodles
• Communicate with family via in-app messaging

Available For: Android, iOS

10. MMGuardian 

Blocking features are up to you,  so MMGuardian is the most favorite parental control app for many parents out there. It is a device controlling app that takes you to the detailed activity logs.  It is a simple app for blocking and granting your kid’s screen access. 

For maintaining some privacy and kids locks, MMGuardian is your go-to tool for screen time scheduling and an efficient app for website blocking.

App Features:

• Message Monitoring
• Time Limits
• Comprehensive Reports
• App Control
• Priority Alerts
• Call and SMS blocking
• Web Filter & Safe Browsing
• Location and Track

Available For: Android, iOS

11. Checky

The checky app is designed to help you monitor your kid’s time on cell phones, tablets, etc. It gets glued to their screens along with other security features. By getting this app on your kid’s device, you can have peace of mind that your kid is safe from cyber-attacks. 

Their app activity, Google searches, calls, or locations are all in your hand with just a single tap.  As you scroll through their activity log, you can see details such as how much time was spent for each activity. Moreover, there are direct links to the websites your kids visited.

App Feature:

• Message Monitoring
• Location and Track
• Web Filter & Safe Browsing
• Time Limits

Available For: Android, iOS

Read More: 7 Best Antivirus Software You Need in 2021

Wrapping Up!

The parents monitoring app or parental control app listed above can serve various features to have eyes on your kid’s digital activity. However, each of them is the right option to keep your child away from online threats. 

Since I have mentioned all the apps’ essential features with user’s reviews and experience, select the app that best aligns with your parental care goals.

FAQs

Q1: What are the best apps to monitor a child’s phone?

A1: Whether kids are playing online or on the ground, taking care of them is the parents’ first responsibility. Is it hard for them to scratch the time and spy 24/7 to check what kids are doing? Are they having their lunch on time or especially how time they are spending on mobile devices.

 If your concern is regarding how much time and type of content your kids are using, there are many apps to help you. These applications are the best apps to monitor a child’s phone; some of them are:

• mSpy
• Bark
• The Spy Bubble
• Qustodio
• The Phonesheriff
• Mobicip
• MamaBear.

Q2: Is there an app to turn off your child’s phone?

A2: Several Android and iPhone apps are available in the market to carry out parental control over your kids. These apps are fully-packed with safety and security features that give you more power to provide access or withdraw access or turn off your child’s phone. 

• Apple Screen Time
• Google Family Link
• Qustodio
• FamiSafe
• OurPact

Q3: What is the best free parental control app?

A3: To know some well-known free parental control apps that are a favorite choice for many parents. Have a look 

• Bark
• Qustodio.com 
• mSpy 
• Norton Family Premier (30 days free) 
• OpenDNS Family Shield
• MMGuardian (14 days free)
• Kidlogger
• Zoodles

Q4: How do I control my child’s iPhone from mine?

A4: Controlling your child’s iPhone from your device is simple. For that, you need to carry out some steps such as:

• Go to Settings > Screen Time.
• Click on Content & Privacy Restrictions tab.
• Enter your Screen Time passcode.
• Click on Content Restrictions, followed by Web Content.
• Select Unrestricted Access, Limit Adult Websites, or Allowed Websites Only.

The post 11 Exclusive Parental Control Apps To Keep An Eye On Kid’s Phone Uses appeared first on Techieapps.