I have had several parents opine about the fact that almost 100% of cell phones now have cameras or mandatory data plans. For those parents who don’t want to give there teen a smart phone or a Mickey Mouse phone there are fewer choices. However, there are options. Most major mobile phone carriers in the USA now have at least some parental control features and there is an entire industry dedicated to providing a wide range of parental control services. While many of these options cost money, and it is getting harder to control what are kids are exposed to, the battle is not lost and we do not need to go Amish just yet. Hopefully, some of these links will be help. And please feel free to email me your comments, reviews, and suggestions so I can post them for other parents as well.

How To Articles

http://www.kidcellphone.net/guide-to-cell-phone-carrier-parental-controls/

An instructional on the available parent controls for the major US carriers. The article is geared for parents of elementary aged children but is equally applicable to parents of teens.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2336612,00.asp

An article on how to use available parental controls for half a dozen common smart phones including Apple iphone 3GS and some black berry models.

Parental Control Software and Services

http://www.mousemail.com/faq/

The company website for a service which electronically screens all incoming text and email to and from your child or teens computer/mobile phone and instantly diverts any questionable material to the parents.

http://www.mykidissafe.com/
One of the newer issues is MyKidIsSafe which allows parents to restrict times of use and block callers. It can also scan in and outbound picture messages for nudity, sending inappropriate ones to parents, and notify you if your child is in a speeding vehicle. All calls and messages can be blocked while driving and parents can be notified when unknown persons are contacting your child. The software provides a myriad of other parental control functions.

http://www.smobilesystems.com/

For around $29.99 per year this subscription service allows parents to read any inbound or outbound text message and can be used on any web-enabled smartphone. Parents can also see a map giving the location of the phone at any giving time, block messages from selected numbers, and set up automated alerts if messages sent or received contain particular words that aren’t acceptable.

http://www.textguard.com/

This application is designed for Blackberry and Windows Mobile phones. For around $11/month parents can read text messages, review the browsing history and call log on a kid’s phone, block spam and specific numbers, filter using keywords, and remotely disable phones.

http://www.mymobilewatchdog.com/

This program allows parents to view inbound and outbound messages, see who they are from/to, see picture messages, and identify “suspicious callers”/those not “approved” by the parents. The software can also allow parents to print full reports of this activity.

http://www.mobile-spy.com/

As the name would imply this is a stealth program. It operates on Windows Mobile smartphones and records SMS and call information as well URLs visited. The user of the phone would be unable to delete data from the monitoring program. Users can subscribe quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. The annual cost is $99.97.

http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/cellphone-spy-simcardreader.html

This is a USB device which would allow a parent, or other individual, to discover address book contents and text messages; even those which have been deleted from the phone. The user has to retrieve the SIM card from the phone, plug it into the dongle, and then insert it into the USB port of the computer to view the information. This device costs around $120-$150. Again, this is more of a device for using after-the-fact, with someone who isn’t trusted.

About Available “Kid Friendly” Cell Phone on the Market

http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2005/11/010729.htm

An article featuring DoCoMo’s “kid friendly phone” and links to other phone’s geared towards children under 12.

http://www.amazon.com/LG-Verizon-VX1000-Mobile-Child/dp/B002DWXW58

Amazon’s web page on the $59 LG Migo which is a simple child friendly phone for kids under ages 12.