Stalking your children with technology

We had a sound/video baby monitor in my son's bedroom for the first two-and-a-half years of his life. Through that little camera, I watched him sleep, kick out of his blankets, sit up in his bed, and even saw the time our cat ended up in his crib and meowed out for help when she realized she was trapped.

When we moved we didn't install the camera in his new room. And since then, I haven't missed it.

But I realize there will come a time when I have to start monitoring him again: When he gets his own cell phone.

Unless something major changes between now and the time my son is old enough to have a cell phone, I am pretty sure monitoring his use of it will be inevitable. There will come a time when I, like the other parents in this piece from the Sun-Sentinel will find a tech company that allows me to monitor texts, calls and online access.

But here's what I think I may do a little differently:

1. I'm going to tell him that I have a way to monitor him and why I am doing it.
2. His phone will have a curfew.
3. We're still going to have ongoing conversations about privacy.
4. We can reopen the conversation about monitoring and privacy when he is old enough to date.

I don't want to be one of those parents who abuses the monitoring technology, but I do want to make sure I am there to discuss moments when he makes a misstep.

Do you currently use an app to track your child's cell phone use? What do you like about it and what do you wish it did differently? Tell me in the comments.