“As parents, we have to figure out where to draw the line between encouraging and allowing our teens to have autonomy, to experience their separate culture, and when we need to monitor their use of media,” says Kathryn Montgomery, author of Generation Digital: Politics, Commerce and Childhood in the Age of the Internet. She says it is especially important to help young people understand that social networking is often more public than they think. Sometimes monitoring them is the best way to do that.

Sample Child-Tracking Technologies

Software: Various programs can track Web activity and record online chats, instant messages and e-mail. Parents can receive reports and alerts by e-mail and, in some cases, by phone or text message. Prices range from $40 to $100 in one-time or annual fees.

Cell phones: GPS enables parents to locate a child’s phone on an online map. One service will text message parents if the phone leaves a predetermined zone. Monthly services typically cost $10 to $20.

Car: Devices can record distance, speed and driving behavior, such as hard braking and sharp turning. Some pinpoint a car’s location using Global Positioning System technology and alert parents if a teen driver exceeds a certain speed or leaves a defined geographic area. One, the CarChip, costs $139. Monthly services cost $20 and up.

Consider

If you are going to monitor your kids’ activity, it may be best to tell them you are doing it. If they know you’ll be monitoring, they may be more apt to be careful. Better to avoid problems altogether than to catch your kids in the act.

How do kids feel when adults start “encroaching” in their technology space? Read Youngsters not happy oldies going online.

“This is about parents being given tools to better protect their kids. That’s not Big Brother. That’s parenting,” said Jack Church of Teen Arrive Alive, a Florida company that offers Global Positioning System-enabled cell phones that allow parents to go online to check the location and speed of a car their child is driving or riding in.

In addition to monitoring activity, consider easing your children into new technology. If a younger child asks for a MySpace page, consider starting them out on Imbee.com, a social networking site for children that allows parental monitoring.

For more information about tracking your children’s use of technology, see Parents turn to tech toys to track teens.

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