The TeenSafe app, opened on Deana Rodriguez's smart phone, provides parents with the tools to, monitor their children when they leave the house. TeenSafe, a monthly service that allows parents to covertly monitor their children's smartphone use, says it has , sign-ups since launching in Deana Rodriguez of Long Beach has used TeenSafe, a mobile monitoring app, for almost two years to watch over her children's smartphone use.
TeenSafe provides parents with the tools to, monitor their children, but also links them with reading materials from field experts to help teach digital parenting.
According to a study, teen use of smartphones has grown steadily in the past five years. The rise has led some parents to figure out how to monitor that activity.
It was a lot of power and information to place in the hands of children so young, she says. Some would argue that her kids were too young for the gadgets, she admits. Two years later, the Costa Mesa-based company has , sign-ups, and users claim the service has helped them uncover bullying issues, eating disorders and even a sexual assault.
With an endorsement from the National PTA signed Friday, the company now sees itself positioned to break open the market of digital parenting. But few guidelines exist to help establish appropriate norms for cyber supervision. A March study by Pew Research Center found that 37 percent of American teens owned a smartphone.
