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How to Receive Automatic Alerts with MamaBear When Kids Arrive/Leave School

How to Receive Automatic Alerts with MamaBear When Kids Arrive/Leave School | MamaBear

When you give your kids the freedom to take the bus, walk, or ride with friends to school, it can be a little unnerving. You send them to school for the day, but you don’t actually see them walk through the doors.

Did they make it on time? Did they . . . detour? Are they safe?

Without confirmation that their kids made it safely to school, many parents are left with a series of uneasy thoughts. Those feelings can be even worse if the child was supposed to send a text and check-in but forgot.

There’s plenty to worry about during the school year. Concerns about your kid getting to and from school shouldn’t be one of them. So MamaBear Family Safety App created a system that automatically notifies parents when their kids make it to their destination — without any effort from the child.

The free app takes the stress out of school travel, and it’s easy to set up.

How to Set Up Location Alerts on MamaBear

From your phone:

  1. Install MamaBear (available for both iPhones and Androids).
  2. Register and create profiles for your family
  3. On the main menu, select “Add Child.”
  4. Enter your child’s name, cell phone number, and birthday.
  5. Under settings for that child, select “Location Alerts.”
  6. Under Safe Places, select “Add New.”
  7. Add a safe place by entering the name and address of the location. May we suggest adding addresses for school and your home before the first day of school.
  8. By default, alerts will be set for both arrivals and departure but you can toggle the buttons to change the settings.

From your child’s phone:

  1. Install MamaBear.
  2. Select “this is a child’s phone” and log in with their phone number and  family password.
  3. Review device settings to be sure location services is on, background refresh is on and wifi is toggled on.

Related: Getting Started With MamaBear App

Once you go through these steps, MamaBear will take it from there. The app uses GPS and combined location services on your child’s phone and automatically sends messages to you when your child arrives at or leaves one of the saved locations.

How to Protect MamaBear App From Being Deleted

Locations alerts only work if the MamaBear app is installed and logged in from your child’s phone. It will not work if the app is uninstalled.

To make sure that the app is not deleted, you can add a password to set a restriction on removal for iPhones. Android users will need to explore other parental control options.

For iPhones:

  1. Go to the general settings in your child’s phone.
  2. Tap general.
  3. Scroll down.
  4. Tap restrictions.
  5. Enable restrictions.
  6. Create a passcode.
  7. Toggle “Deleting Apps” to OFF.

With the help of MamaBear, parents can give their kids the freedom to go to school by themselves without having to call or check in when they reach their destination. It offers parents peace of mind knowing that their kids are at school and making it home safely.

Give you and your kids one less thing to worry about this school year, and download the MamaBear Family Safety App.

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8 Back to School Internet Safety Tips for Kids

Internet Safety Tips for Kids. Here are eight important online safety conversations to have with your child before the first bell rings. | MamaBear

As students head back to school, many will take their own smartphones for the first time. Others will enter classrooms where they will start regularly using the internet for school projects. So this year, it’s time to add one more item to your back to school checklist — discussing internet safety tips for kids.

Here are eight important online safety conversations to have with your child before the first bell rings.

1. Use the privacy settings to keep your account private.

Each social media account has their own features for keeping your account private. Go through each account to make sure you are only sharing information with close friends and family and that all personal information is hidden.

2. Don’t give your password to anyone but your parents or primary caregiver.

If a friend, teacher, or babysitter asks for your password, say no. If an adult insists, tell them you need a parent present before you can share access to your account. Friends don’t need your password, and no adult should request it without a parent’s consent.

3. Don’t share sensitive information about yourself or your family online.

Sensitive information includes your: address, name of your school, phone number, and age. If someone repeatedly asks for such information, tell a parent or adult.

4. Don’t share photos or posts that would embarrass or expose you or anyone else.

If you can’t tell what is embarrassing or racy, ask yourself, “Would it be okay if this was shown on television news or attached to a job resume?” If the answer is no, then don’t post it. Images and words create a lasting digital footprint that can be hard to delete, so always think before you post.

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5. Don’t accept requests from anyone you don’t know in real life, even if you have multiple mutual friends.

Only accept people that you personally know, and don’t accept someone just because many of your friends have.

6. Never agree to meet in-person with someone that you met online.

People that you know online are strangers in real life, and they are just as dangerous as any other stranger. If someone asks you to meet them, remember the stranger danger rule — say no and immediately tell an adult.

Related: Protecting Kids from Internet Stranger Danger

7. If you see any type of cyberbullying, don’t respond or participate.

Go tell a parent immediately. Even if you are trying to stop someone from bullying, it is better to not get involved. Instead, notify a parent or adult so they can address and help solve the problem.

8. Talk to an adult if you encounter anything that makes you uncomfortable.

Cyberbullying may be easy to spot and identify, but there are other internet dangers that may not be as obvious. If you have any internet encounters that feels weird or unusual or awkward, tell an adult.

It’s important to have open communication about social media and online safety with your child. In the real world, have regular conversations that discuss both the upsides and the downsides of the internet. Then connect through MamaBear Family Safety app to stay connected in the digital world. The free app is available for both Androids and iPhones.

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Social Media, Bullying and What You Can Do to Help

Social Media, Bullying and What You Can Do to Help | MamaBear App

Statistics from DoSomething.org show that nearly 43% of kids have been bullied online and another 70% have seen bullying online. But with only one out of ten victims reporting this type of abuse to an adult, cyberbullying isn’t always an easy problem for parents to identify.

Parents must be proactive and prepared to protect their children from social media bullying.

Keep an Eye on What’s Going On

The best way to know what’s going on in your child’s social world is to see it for yourself.

  • Help your kids set up their accounts. Kids want to be independent and sooner or later, they are going to set up their own social media profiles. Instead of waiting for them to sign up, get involved early. Help them set up their accounts, and use that opportunity to tour the site together, set privacy settings and discuss the dangers as well as social etiquette. When you set up their profile, explain you need a copy of their password and username, not because you want to snoop, but because you want to keep them safe. It’s responsible parenting.

  • Make monitoring a habit. Being on the social site yourself and friending or following your children make your presence known as a form of monitoring but also providing a sense of security to your kids. Plus, it will keep you up-to-date on social sites so you are more educated on their trends and purposes.  Using third party services like MamaBear App can help save time filtering need to know information with customized word list to monitor with timely mobile notifications.

  • Put limitations on phone and computer use. Setting boundaries is important in all relationships.  Set limits on time and place for device use. Limit computer use to a central location where you can periodically pop in and see the screen. If your children have phones for games and emergencies, they don’t need their device with them 24/7. Here are some ideas for a cellphone contract that can guide you in creating these boundaries.

Related: Helping Your Teen be Safe on Social Media

Save the Evidence

If you happen to find an indication of bullying on your child’s social sites, make sure to save the evidence.

Many online sites make it easy to take down messages, so be sure to capture proof while you still can. This evidence might be vital in filing a complaint, so take a screenshot that includes the date and username of the bully.

Block and Report the Bully

Block and report any user that shows signs of bullying directly from your child’s account. You can also file a complaint separate from your child’s account. Many popular social sites also allow you to file a report even if you don’t have your own account.

Talk About It

Talk to your child about what happened. Discuss that bullying isn’t acceptable and reassure them that you are there to listen and answer any of their questions about the situation.

By planning ahead and properly addressing the problem, you are teaching your child how to protect themselves in the future. But as a parent it’s up to you to be proactive and make sure they stick to the plan.

Download the MamaBear Family Safety app, available for iPhones and Androids, to connect with your child’s social media accounts and ensure that they are engaging in a safe and healthy social media environment.

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Getting Started With MamaBear App

Thanks for using the MamaBear App.  We’ve put together a step-by-step guide to help you get started. Get in touch with us at support@mamabearapp.com with any questions.

mamabear-family-safety-app1. ADD YOUR FAMILY.

Add your children and any other guardians to your account in the settings area.

Your added family members can install MamaBear from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and we’ll also send them a text message invitation asking to join your family.

2. CONNECT WITH YOUR FAMILY.

Once your added family members have installed MamaBear, they’ll simply need to log in using their phone number and the family password you created.

Share your password and give your kids a hand if they need help installing MamaBear on their phone.

You can resend the login link when you see that your child has not logged in for the first time or if their map location is old. Go to your child’s profile settings page and tap “resend login link.”

3. REVIEW YOUR CHILD’S DEVICE SETTINGS.

Your child’s smartphone needs data connectivity with these appropriate device settings:

– Location services “on”
– Background refresh “on” (for iPhones)
– Make sure wifi is “on.”  Even if not connected, having wifi on helps the device’s location services.
– The device also needs to be powered on to share updated location information.

Related: How to prevent your child from deleting apps

mamabear-app-monitor-social-media4. GET YOUR CHILD’S SOCIAL USERNAME AND PASSWORDS.

Connect your child’s Grom App, Instagram, Twitter,  and/or Facebook accounts in the settings area of MamaBear.

Once you are connected:
– Customize a word list to monitor on all connected social accounts by tapping “restricted words.” Check out these acronyms you may want to add to the list.
– Notifications for new Twitter followers.
– Notifications for Instagram photos posted.
– Select what notifications you would like to see of your child’s activity on the Grom app.

5. SET UP SAFE PLACES.

Add places like home or school in the settings area of each child to receive notifications when they arrive or leave. Adjust the size of the boundary to fit the location in the safe place settings to prevent “bouncing” or inaccurate departures.

6. REVIEW THE DRIVING SPEED DEFAULT.

The default setting for driving speed notifications is 55 MPH.  You’ll receive notifications if your child rides or drives over that limit once per hour.

7. SHARE THE GIFT OF FAMILY SAFETY.

Earn a free premium subscription when you share MamaBear with your friends using the Bear2Bear referral program. Tap the top left menu and tap “share” to choose among text, email or social apps to share your custom referral link.  As soon as your friends register, they receive a free premium subscription period and so do you! Learn more about Bear2Bear.

8. LEARN MORE ABOUT DIGITAL PARENTING.

Check out our blog and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. We share great resources to help you through the wonderful world of digital parenting.