Big Brother is Watching Your Teen!

This from a teen I know. Advise your students, more than ever, what they tweet, Snapchat, Facebook,  put on Vine, etc, is not private or anonymous!

	CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk)
9/14/13, 5:05 AM A Southern California school district has hired a company to monitor students' social media posts. on.cnn.com/17WrbQx

Teens and Cars: Texting, Talking, and Speeding...

My son got his driver's license back in January. He is a really good driver. For the last 5 years he has been driving a full size tractor mowing our fields (I called this pre-driver's ed). He is competent, and confident. Also, he is generally a rule follower. However, he is also 16, and there are a lot of opportunities to make simple mistakes while driving that can have complex outcomes... 

Our biggest fears are that he will text or talk on the phone while driving. There are a number of ways we could address this, including taking the phone away, buying a non-texting phone, or telling him to put his phone in the trunk when driving. All of those solutions have shortcomings.

 What would be terrific is if we could be notified whenever he makes a text, or phone call while driving, or even if he speeds. With Canary that is just what happens. The app is free for the first seven days. If you purchase the app before the seven days are up, it's only $9.99. If you purchase it after the seven days it is $14.99. Canary works with both the iPhone and Androids. By loading the app on the parent phone and on the teen phone parents get instant notifications when calls are placed or answered while on the road. Parents can also know exactly when there’s texting, tweeting or Facebook use behind the wheel. In addition parents can set maximum speed limits and get alerts when they are exceeded.

 A few other features include:
• Emergency button: Designate contacts to receive immediate alerts and location information in the event of an emergency.
• Instant locator: Find out exactly where your “Canaried” phones are.
• Customizable settings: Get alerts via push notifications or email. Set up daily or weekly reports summarizing each driver’s record.
• Advanced analytics: Access deep details, charts and graphs to track progress.

Let's take a look at Canary in action: