A selfie in the moment is great. But it doesn’t need to be posted.

What’s Wrong With Vacation Photos?

The main problem with vacation photos, at least if you share them while on vacation, is that they tell the entire world that you’re not at home. This alerts criminals, vandals, and other people that your home is unprotected and wide open to whatever they want to do. Granted, the overall probability of this is somewhat low, but at the same time, we don’t take unnecessary risks online, why should we take them in the real world?

Just as difficult, though, is that social media and photo sharing is a distraction from your vacation. Even if your profile is completely private, the reality of social media is that people interact with the things you post. They like them, they post comments, they ask questions, and, especially if you’re in a beautiful place, a supposed escape from the hustle of the every day, why are you paying attention to social media in the first place?

Setting The Rules

Those great vacation pics will be just as shareable after you’re back home.

So, before you set off on your vacation, you should set a few rules, and perhaps install a parental control app to enforce them. Parental control software can be useful for any vacation, but it needs to be backed up with a conversation about why you’re putting the rules in place.

• • First of all, set a standard for the whole family, not just your kids. While children may be more prone to being glued to their smartphones, we can all be lured into the same cycle of posting for likes and comments, and it can ruin our vacation just as easily. So, your whole family should agree to ignore social media.
  • Second, kids shouldn’t talk about vacation plans on social media, for much the same reason they shouldn’t share photos while on vacation. Make sure they understand the risks.
  • Next, everyone should be allowed to take all the photos they want, just they shouldn’t post them until they get back. Even with strong parental controls in place, kids should be allowed to take snapshots and selfies to remember their vacation, just like adults do.
  • It’s less-likely your photos will be copied without your permit, if you watermark them. You can batch-watermark your whole album at once using watermarking apps like Visual Watermark.
  • When you get back, set aside a little family time to pick out photos for an online “family album” to be shared. This isn’t just a good way to maintain a little privacy, it’s also a great family bonding activity. You might even consider using a photo printing service to create an album of vacation memories to keep on the coffee table.

  Vacations are stressful, at least until you get there and kick back. But by setting some ground rules, and making sure everyone sticks to them, you won’t have to worry about oversharing with the wrong people when you’re thousands of miles away. To learn more about phone safety apps for kids, sign up for Screen Time.

Many places of employment have employees use smartphones for processes like timekeeping.

Why Do Teens Need Smartphones For A Job?

Technology has changed everything, and finding a job is no exception. Especially with the jobs teens are usually up for, the application process often involves using a custom app or a website to fill out forms, even with places that conduct on-site interviews. In some cases, the entire process is done online, or new employees are asked to view online training modules through their phones and tablets, which can fall afoul of parental control apps for smartphones.

It also applies to the day-to-day “paperwork” of a job. For example, employees may be expected to sign into an app to confirm their hours or tell their manager what hours they have available this week, or they might need an app to access company tools such as price lookup. In some cases, they even need their smartphones to get paid, as companies are increasingly turning to apps like Venmo and Zelle to pay their employees, rather than go to the expense of printing out and distributing paychecks.

And, of course, let’s not forget that having a smartphone means a manager can quickly reach an employee when they’re needed, so if your teen wants to pick up an extra shift, or at least be accessible for it, they can be reached. So, the phone’s necessary, but how do you balance that against the rules?

The smartphone will be part of the job hunt.

Rules Of The Job

To start with, any parental control apps for smartphones should have a “whitelist” function that will let you approve work-related apps and websites, or permit certain phone numbers to call your teen’s phone. Of course, this depends heavily on the app and its function. For example, if you want to keep your teen from spending their whole paycheck in a day, you might put the paycheck app on your phone instead of theirs, and dole out the money where appropriate.

Similarly, you should discuss with their manager the needs for a smartphone at work; if, for example, teens only need their smartphone for their job when they’re not at work, they’ll likely be too busy to look at their phones in the first place. It’s important to, as much as possible, let teens manage their job on their own, however, as learning to negotiate with supervisors and time management are part of the reason teens get jobs in the first place.

Finally, be ready to ease up on your parental control app, beyond a certain point. Taking a job is a big responsibility, and if a teenager can handle showing up to work and getting the job done, then that should be a factor in the phone rules. Sooner or later they’re going to be full-fledged adults, and giving them more responsibility by slow degrees is the best way to make that transition an easy one. To learn more about smartphones and parental control apps, try Screen Time for free!