A Grandmother's Concern - Monitoring Cell Phone and Internet Activity of Young Children

Recently, I was in an airport terminal waiting to board a flight and I noticed a grandmother and her grandson traveling together. The grandson, who looked to be around 9 years old, was very busy texting on his cell phone and the grandmother was just people watching - not really paying attention to her grandson. I don't think more than 10 words were exchanged between them the whole time they waited to board the plane.

The grandmother noticed that I was watching her grandson and mentioned that she insisted he have a cell phone for safety reasons. His parents objected, but she won the battle.

I asked her if she knew who her grandson was texting and if his incoming and outgoing phone calls, texting and other web applications were being monitored by an adult. Was she aware of cyber bullying and all the inappropriate websites, etc. available via his cell phone?

She said she trusted her grandson to use the phone responsibily, but didn't know if his parents monitored him when he was home. She said I had given her food for thought!

That conversation prompted me to ask several of my grandparent and parent friends if they did little or no monitoring of cell phones, computers and other devices.

I found that most parents are monitoring all of these devices, some are even putting time limits on when and how they can be used. But most grandparents are not doing any monitoring while the grandchildren are in their care.

Might be a good idea for grandparents to have that discussion with their children. That way the grandkids can expect the same rules to apply in grandparents' homes as well.

If the subject has not been addressed by the parents, it might be something they have been meaning to look into.

I understand there are many websites available to help parents and grandparents research the best approach for their family. Perhaps some of their friends or family that are monitoring can lead them in the right direction.