Spying on kids using smartphones and tablets is not the way to go

A NEW app which allows parents to act as “ASIO” and spy on their children’s phones and tablets without their knowledge is not a good idea, experts say.

Mother Comforting Daughter Being Bullied By Text Message - Stock Image

PARENTS are being warned against spying on their children’s smartphone and tablet usage, as if they are “ASIO”.

Leading child psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said any mother of father who thinks this is the way to prevent their child from misusing technology — and healthy for them to be doing so — is mistaken.

It comes as an American software company launches in Australia its online program dubbed TeenSafe to allow parents to sneak in and watch how their children use their devices.

It’s unprecedented success in the US which has resulted in more than 1 million users signing up to the service.

TeenSafe allows parents to keep track of their children’s online activity including everything from reading their text messages sent, received and deleted, scrutinising their web browsing history and monitoring their social media accounts.

But Dr Carr-Gregg said parents shouldn’t be spying on their children's’ online behaviour.

“If you are worried about cyber bulling and sexting, talk to your child about it before it happens,’’ he said.

“This (TeenSafe) is based on no trust at all and is based on the idea that the child is under constant surveillance.”

No spying ... Child psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg says parents should not have to spy on their children's’ behaviour when it comes to using smartphones and tablets. Picture: News Corp Australia.

The program, which costs about $15 per month, allow parents to watch their child’s online usage, but they need to get over one critical hurdle — they need the child’s iCloud username and password to access their smartphone or tablet information via the parent’s own computer.

Dr Carr-Gregg said many children would be likely to resist handing these details over.
He said children should have a “private world” and create their identity formation away from the watch of their parents.

No privacy ... An increasing number of parents are spying on their children's’ behaviour when they are using smartphone and tablet devices. Picture: Supplied.

TeenSafe CEO Rawdon Messenger will visit Australia next week to promote the online service and said it has been designed to make it easy for parents to use and monitor their child’s device behaviour.

“The parents don’t need to touch (the child’s) device and they don’t need to legally or technically let the child know (they are spying),’’ he said.

“Smartphones in children's hands has happened so quickly that many parents are hit for six, and this is the first generation who have walked into this world and been naive.

“We think parents should tell them at the beginning of using TeenSafe that they are going to be monitoring the child’s use.”