Let’s be honest: You were once a teenager yourself, and while you might not have realized how difficult teenagers were until you started raising one, now you’re left wondering whether there are any apps for parents that can help you through the next few years.  Fortunately, there are several great helps that can help.

Find My Kids — Footprints

Does your teenager hang out with a bad crowd? Is he or she dating, much to your dismay? Has your child ever told you that he or she was going to a friend’s house only to relax in a bar with a fake ID instead? Unfortunately, teenagers may not tell the entire truth when it comes to where they are going and what they are doing. Find My Kids — Footprints is an app that allows parents to track and monitor their child’s whereabouts in real time. In other words, you will know if they are somewhere they shouldn’t be. However, clever teens may be able to find the app and disable it, so try to be as discreet as possible during installation.

SecureTeen

Although it’s important to know where your teenagers are, it’s just as important to know to whom they’re talking. SecureTeen is an app that allows parents to monitor their children’s texts and calls. Not only can you make sure they’re not hanging out with the wrong crowd, but the app also protects your teenagers from potential predators and bullies. According to TechoMag, SecureTeen is one of the best apps available for parents who aim to keep their teenagers safe.

Net Nanny

With technology ever-changing and many teenagers spending a great deal of time online, monitoring Internet activity has become more important than ever. Net Nanny has helped parents to monitor their child’s Internet usage and limit their access to potentially dangerous websites since 1995. Unfortunately, since it has become nearly impossible to monitor your teen’s access through his or her smartphone since you do not have direct access to the actual phone, the Net Nanny app may be your answer. The app will alert you if your teen’s online searches are cause for concern, including anything related to cyberbullying protection tips or suicide.

Family Orbit

Some monitoring apps for parents require you to jailbreak your child’s phone. Not only must you figure out how to do this if you don’t know already, but most kids know how to jailbreak as well. In other words, it’d be relatively easy to uninstall an app that you place on the phone for their protection. Family Orbit is a smart alternative as it allows you to sync your teenager’s phone without the need for jailbreaking. Once the app is synced to the cloud, you can monitor their social media activity, texts and calls from your own device.

Alarm

As much as you’d like to be home every night to monitor your teenager, that might not be feasible for your family. At some point in time, you and/or your spouse will need to leave for a few days to visit a sick relative, celebrate an anniversary or to embark on a business trip. While it’d be nice to be able to trust your teenager to stay home alone, the temptation to invite friends over to hang out might be too great to resist. Enter Alarm. Through live video, this app allows you to monitor your home, so you can check in whenever you want to make sure your teens aren’t up to any shenanigans while you’re away.

More often than not, raising teens can be challenging. Although you want to respect their privacy as much as possible, there will also be times when you need to take on the role of “helicopter parent.” Fortunately, there are many apps for parents of teens that can help you monitor their activity while making sure they’re safe at the same time.