Learn How Teens Get Around Parental Monitoring of Social Media

The internet and social media have changed our lives in ways we can’t even begin to express. Children and teens are like are using social media to their advantage. They are using social media sites than most adults.

Social media is an incredible platform that allows us to communicate with our friends and family, play online games, watch videos, read news posts, share our pictures and videos, etc. It is also known to be a great resource when you need to find information about a particular brand, celebrity, topic, etc.

At the same time, social media has posed several online threats for users, especially teens. Since children and teens are exposed to online threats on social media sites time and again, parents are left with no choice but to monitor their online activity.

However, some clever teens have found ways to bypass parental controls as well. They can easily get around the parental controls that have been enabled on their devices as well as browsers. In this post, we will tell you how teens get around parenting monitoring of social media.

According to a report published by Pew Research Center, it was found that more than fifty percent of American parents monitor their teen’s online activity. Research has also found that when it comes to checking their child’s social media use and interactions, parents tend to take a hands-on approach to monitor what their children are doing online.

According to the findings in the report by Pew Research Center, the following key points came to our notice:

• 61% of parents have said that they have checked which sites their teen visits while browsing the internet.
• 60% of parents have said that they have checked their teen’s social media accounts.
• 56% of parents have said that they have friended or followed their teens on different social media sites.
• 48% of parents have said that they have checked their teen’s incoming and outgoing phone calls and text messages.

By accessing their teen’s cell phone and social media accounts, the report found the following things:

• 48% of parents know their teen’s email account.
• 43% of parents know the password to their teen’s cell phone.
• 35% of parents know the password to at least one of their teen’s social media accounts.
   

By regularly keeping track of their teen’s online activity, parents are trying to protect them from online hazards. With online threats like cyberbullying, sexting, pornography, and pedophilia on the rise, parents need to make sure their children feel safe on the internet.

You simply cannot force your child to stop using social media or ask them to delete one of their social media accounts. Another better idea would be to enable parental controls on their devices or tighten the privacy settings on their social media profiles so they can stay away from the online threats lurking on the platforms.

How Teens Get Around Parental Monitoring of Social Media

While parents are trying their level best to ensure their children remain safe online, some teens are clever enough to get past parental monitoring of social media. We are going to share a few surprising ways teens get around their parents on the internet.

The latest tech teens are using to get around parental social media monitoring is Google Docs. This online document tool allows collaborators to communicate with each other without keeping any record of a text message, making it almost impossible for parents to monitor anything.

Teens can invite as many people as they want to join the conversation, creating a chat room where they can share photos and videos and then quickly delete them.

Besides Google Docs, teens are also using other means to bypass parental controls on their devices. They are also using AirDrop to send photos and notes to one another through their iOS devices. In other cases, many teens are found using shared Twitter accounts where they can send and receive direct messages private to the other person using the same login credentials.

What’s more, some teens also happen to evolve the slang language by keeping names for different things. For instance, they are using slang terms such as “school bus” so they can discuss drugs like Xanax.

Teens who have technical know-how are also using other means to get around parental monitoring of social media. The following are some of the technical ways teens use to bypass parental controls.

Using Proxy Sites

Teens can use proxy sites or unblocking sites to open sites that have been blocked or filtered by parents on their web browsers. They can open their web browsers and look for proxy sites. Most proxy sites can bypass filters on the internet by diverting the traffic to another server, hiding your computer’s IP address in the process.

Usually, proxy sites get blocked on a routine basis but new proxy sites soon take their place eventually. All a teen needs to do is open the proxy site. They will find a text box in which they can type the URL of the site they want to access. After typing the URL, they can access the site. Due to the proxy, the sites you visit won’t be monitored by parental controls. Some teens start using another proxy site if their chosen one gets blocked.

Using a VPN Service

Some teens also use VPN services to get around parental monitoring. While not many teens would know about using a VPN service but for those who know can bypass parental controls with it. They can look up for free VPN software on the internet and start using one.

The VPN software is designed to hide your computer’s location, helping you bypass parental controls. VPN software is commonly used by people who wish to browse the internet privately. Several VPN apps are available on the internet that offer free trial versions.

A teen just needs to look up for VPN software on the web and download it. As soon as they download the software, they will need to activate it. After they confirm that they have unrestricted browsing, they can open a web browser, type the URL of the blocked site and access it without having to worry about the parental controls.