When parents get teens cell phones, it isn’t because they’re “cool parents”. It’s because they want to be able to contact their child at any given time to find out where they are and what they’re doing. Parents need a way to add parental controls and monitoring programs to their teens’ cell phones. There are several mobile apps that help parents keep track of their teens.

Life360

Life360 is a way to create a private circle with your teen and immediate family. You can also set up perimeters of where your child is permitted to be and will receive an alert if he or she goes outside of that area. It is also designed to show your teen’s location in real time. This helps prevent dangerous situations from occurring and helps track teens in the case of a disappearance.

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Glympse

Glympse is a laid-back type of phone application that works with nearly any smartphone available. With this application, parents can request location or status updates from their teens. The teens just have to send a quick message to their parent/guardian and the parent easily “tracks” the teen’s location as it changes.

Phone Sheriff

Phone Sheriff is not free. There are promo codes from time-to-time for discounts on the app’s cost. With this monitoring application, parents can sync the app with up to 3 devices. Some of the features here include web content filters, usage time limits, Geofencing and GPS location services.

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Teens must realize that having a cell phone is a privilege, not a right. Parents have every right to put in monitoring applications, especially when emergent situations can arise that can leave teens in danger. It isn’t a spy tactic, it’s called being a good parent and making sure your child is not in a dangerous situation. While teens might see these apps as spy devices, it’s really just a way for parents to make sure they’re safe when away from home.