The Time our Teen Tried to Outsmart our Cyber Safety Solution........(and what happened next!)

I have a personal story to share.

I don’t hide the fact that I am super passionate about cyber safety. Most people assume that I have it all ‘under control’ in my own home.

I’m here to tell you that, yes, I do have practical settings in place where I can, I do have a cyber safety solution configured to suit our children and I do constantly talk to my girls about staying safe on the internet.

That doesn’t mean that

a) I don’t have anything left to do when it comes to the practical side of things (there are always more settings to implement and changes to be made to make sure that we are keeping safe and that our setup fits our family – this is an ongoing journey)

and

b) that my girls always listen to me. And this is where my story begins.

Let me set the scene.

We had been using Family Zone for close to 2 years. It was set up with family input and agreement and it has been tweaked over time when necessary. The devices our girls had access to were only used on our wifi. Enter DD#1 and her first mobile phone.

The ‘fantabulous’ Mobile Zone app was promptly installed onto the mobile phone. Why? Well, the Mobile Zone app meant that the Family Zone settings that applied to this child worked both in our home and outside of our home. Brilliant!

When DD#1 wanted more storage on her phone (that’s the story she’s sticking to), she started to delete the apps that she didn’t need.

She thought that she didn’t need the Mobile Zone app.

Even after we’d had extensive conversations around what it did and what would happen if she removed it.

Are you wondering why I called the Mobile Zone app ‘fantabulous’?

Because when she deleted it, she lost internet access completely.

And I received an email from Family Zone.
And I received an alert in my Family Zone Dashboard.
And DD#1 had to come to me to get her access back.

See! ‘Fantabulous’!!

So, conversations with kids about internet safety are forever ongoing.

Cyber Safety is not set and forget.

Kids will test things out even when they know the consequences. They are going to make mistakes or, as I like to them, ‘learning experiences.’

I’m not a poet but I was inspired to write a little poem to commemorate the occasion (and to show my other 2 girls when they have the mobile zone app installed on their first mobile phones).

Enjoy!

See if Family Zone could be the right fit for your family.