Taking the cell phone out of young people is not enough

If you are a parent mcafee.com/activate product key or guardian of a child or teenager, you are well aware of the challenge of setting rules and enforcing consequences www.mcafee/activate . Even if you have dedicated yourself to establishing www.mcafee.com/activate product key these rules, the setbacks on the way to maturity will almost certainly lead the www.mcafee.com/activate download child to try to circumvent or even break them www.mcafee.com/activate. 

If you are like many adults www.mcafee.com/activate, your first mcafee.com/activate product key instinct will be to restrict the use of  www.mcafee.com/activate download what they love most: the cell phone. However, there are some www.mcafee/activate problems with this approach www.mcafee.com/activate product key. 

First of all, removing access www.mcafee.com/activate to the cell phone can be just as hard for you as it is for them, as you have come to depend on instant www.mcafee/activate communication www.mcafee.com/activate product key. Thus, if the teenager is old enough to drive and is far from home, the www.mcafee.com/activate download cell phone mcafee.com/activate product key offers a sense of security to the family dynamics. 

The second challenge is that, with or without the cell phone, most teenagers have created an alternative communication www.mcafee.com/activate product key network that ensures www.mcafee/activate there is no setback in losing access to the cell phone. (making it clear: this post is not about an “us against them” mentality or a strategy to cover them www.mcafee.com/activate up www.mcafee.com/activate download; we expose only a mcafee.com/activate product key dose of reality that can influence and inform the daily decisions of parents and guardians). 

Here are some ways that children can maintain www.mcafee/activate their social lives without cell phones: 

Notebooks or computers. Since many mcafee.com/activate product key schools require children to do chores online, the young person will likely www.mcafee.com/activate ask to use the notebook or www.mcafee/activate computer at home to do the homework www.mcafee.com/activate product key. You can't help it, can you? That way, they will sneak into your favorite apps and chat with friends www.mcafee.com/activate download.  Solution: monitor homework.  

iPads and tablets. Children will also ask to read or  www.mcafee/activate do chores using an iPad or tablet. mcafee.com/activate product key You can't stop them from studying, can you? No. They can download social www.mcafee.com/activate download media apps or chats that www.mcafee.com/activate they want to hide from you, like Kik and Viber. Solution: Monitor when doing homework and watching TV www.mcafee.com/activate product key. 

Borrowed cell phones. I hate to make it look like kids are part of a teenage tech mafia, but they don't keep old cell phones for nothing www.mcafee.com/activate. Although an old iPhone or Android may not have a phone signal mcafee.com/activate product key, the installed social networking and texting apps can still be used over Wi-Fi - and you can bet they're using it www.mcafee/activate. A sincere teenager www.mcafee.com/activate download told me: "We don't throw away www.mcafee.com/activate product key old cell phones if parents confiscate someone's phone."  Solution: speak frankly. Ask if the child borrowed a cell phone or check for other devices in backpacks.  

Gaming systems, Smart TVs and speakers. Gaming systems rely on chats and text messaging functions used by children frequently www.mcafee.com/activate. Since social networks and televisions are linked, children can access cell phone applications through most of today's TVs: something that  www.mcafee.com/activate product key many children are aware of, but  www.mcafee/activate many parents are not. If your TV is not a “Smart” type (with Wi-Fi access), children know that www.mcafee.com/activate download they can use a smart device like Amazon Fire, connect it to an HDTV and turn it into a Smart TV. mcafee.com/activate product key Speaking of smart devices, don't forget your smart speakers, like Amazon Echo and Google Home. Children can use them www.mcafee/activate