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This was obvious...
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Some say, how could you do this!?!? Invasion of privacy! But, when something happens, these same people are the first to say, "Where was the supervision?" "You have to monitor your child's whereabouts and internet communications in this new millenium, and all the crazy stuff happening." Can't be denied, you hear it every day on the news.
I choose to make an error on the side of caution myself.
I use SmrtGuard for everyones BB in my family. There is a subscription version and a free version. All 5 of my subscriptions are paid, but you may only need the free version though for what you want to do. They (free version) have remote tracking, SMS text backup for you to see text history, and even a "Remote Listen" feature. The only caveat is that they can see the icon, and will know it is installed. But that alone is a deterent from trouble in itself IMO.
I just instructed my daughter that if I pay the bill it will be installed. Period. Guess how fast she agreed.
I told her it was just to be able to locate her if she doesn't repond. She now responds to every message sent, so I wont go to the PC. I probably never will track her, but I like to be able to do so if I need to. I love my kids, and do what I need to do.
Check it out here...
BlackBerry Smartphone Services, BlackBerry PDA Services, Phone Services for BlackBerry05-17-10 06:59 PM - Nah your right, new millennium new problems new solutions. If you wanna use GPS for safety reasons I have no argument, and like you said you'd prolly never track her, so I really have nothing left to say lol **** I'm not an ***** maybe my views will change once I have children, but until then FREEDOM FOR EVERYONE! HahaThis was obvious...
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Some say, how could you do this!?!? Invasion of privacy! But, when something happens, these same people are the first to say, "Where was the supervision?" "You have to monitor your child's whereabouts and internet communications in this new millenium, and all the crazy stuff happening." Can't be denied, you hear it every day on the news.
I choose to make an error on the side of caution myself.
I use SmrtGuard for everyones BB in my family. There is a subscription version and a free version. All 5 of my subscriptions are paid, but you may only need the free version though for what you want to do. They (free version) have remote tracking, SMS text backup for you to see text history, and even a "Remote Listen" feature. The only caveat is that they can see the icon, and will know it is installed. But that alone is a deterent from trouble in itself IMO.
I just instructed my daughter that if I pay the bill it will be installed. Period. Guess how fast she agreed. I told her it was just to be able to locate her if she doesn't repond. She now responds to every message sent, so I wont go to the PC. I probably never will track her, but I like to be able to do so if I need to. I love my kids, and do what I need to do.
Check it out here...
BlackBerry Smartphone Services, BlackBerry PDA Services, Phone Services for BlackBerry
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com05-17-10 08:32 PM - You make a good point...How can these apps prevent it's uninstallation? If I were teen and I was suspecting that my parents are spying on me, the first thing that I'll do is to delete this spy app. Kids are smart now, don't underestimate them
OP, does your child use anything like twitter, Google Latitude, etc. already so you could maybe add it to your phone and somehow turn the location on for their tweets or add them in Latitude? My daughter is 3 and I am not looking forward to the day when I have to consider this.
05-18-10 07:01 AM - I don't know how old the teen is? But you would probably do better with a GPS tracker on the vehicle! (If they are driving of course).
On a lighter note....I have three children 22,19,16. The two youngest were no problem what-so-ever! My eldest son needed a GPS tracker inserted rectally!! He was NEVER where he was supposed to be and got into the most trouble, even with me being on top of everything, he still managed to pull some nonsense!! NOW I will let his wife deal with that05-18-10 07:18 AM - The apps do not prevent uninstallation. Most teenagers do not have the independent income to purchase mobile phones, or maintain their monthly plans. For the most part teens cannot even purchase their own clothing, even with a position in McDonald's. So, as I stated before, it gets installed, or they can't be trendy having a mobile device and plan. From what I see, if a teen is able to sustain what is necessary for the extra things in life, they are most likely on their own anyway with no support structure, so it really wouldn't matter at that point. Plenty of people tell stories about how they had to work through childhood. They have matured beyond their years already, and probably would not need something like this.
Although the desire is to do this stealthfully, and unobtrusively, as you can read from the post just above yours that it is more about child safety than spying. Sure, they can uninstall it, but what does that really say about the child? If they cannot follow instructions about an application, what are the real world worries about other "more important" instructions on personal safety or life in general. As I stated previously, If it is not installed, or working as it should, all priviledges are revoked. Period. If a child claims that they are in the "good" it should not matter to them.
This is EXACTLY the point! Kids are growing up too fast today. They see too many things on TV, on the way to school, and even in the classrooms. The true "underestimation" is to allow children to engage in unseemly activities, and not expect excellence from them. I remember as a child, I was giggling and shocked to hear Flo on "GoodTimes" say "Damn, Damn, Damn". Now you hear MUCH more terrible things than that... During prime time! And, kids don't even flinch. The OP is doing the correct thing, following the basic human instinct of survival for the family unit in these crazy times.Kids are smart now, don't underestimate them
It's all about true love... Do what you gotta do...05-18-10 07:29 AM
