Kids Beware: This Mom Just Invented an App to Ground You
We love our phones as much as the next girl, but there’s something to be said for not having grown up with one. You actually played games on the bus like Concentration 64 instead of Candy Crush, and you called your mom from the landline as soon as you got home safely. Today, kids have a lot more independence and usually get their own phones before middle school. But for concerned parents, that doesn’t necessarily mean more freedom. So we’re not surprised that there’s an app to get kids to pay attention.
Called Ignore No More, the app lets parents lock their kids’ smartphones remotely if they are in need of a little time out. And, of course, if they won’t respond to mom or dad’s texts. The idea came to the app’s creator Sharon Standifird, after she got frustrated with her son for ignoring her messages. She took her great idea to the web and learned how to make the app by Googling up how-tos online. Um, supermom much?
When a parent sets the app to grounding mode, their child’s phone is locked. The kids are allowed to make emergency calls, but for them to unlock their phone and access all those Instagrams and tweets, they have to call back Mom or Dad for a passcode.
The website puts it best: “Your child has only two options — he or she can call you back, or call for an emergency responder.”
Ignore No More costs $1.99 and is currently only available for Android phones. An iPhone version is in the works. This may not be every mom or dad’s kinda punishment for their radio silent teen, but all we know, is that we’re glad to be a little too old (we hope) for this sort of thing.
What do you think about this new app? Would you use it, or is it too invasive? Let us know your thoughts!