Tech Tips for Parents: What to Look For

Teens are digital natives who've been using technology their entire lives. We asked law enforcement for the top things parents should look for.

Secondary devices: Check to see if your child is using a secondary device. It’s common for kids to use old iPhones or other devices that are no longer connected to cell service, but can still connect to Wi-Fi.

• Check your Wi-Fi router to see which devices are connected. If there’s a device you don’t recognize, you can block it or disconnect it from the Wi-Fi.

Additional accounts: Check to see if your kids have additional social media accounts. This is a way for many kids to engage in behavior outside of adult purview.

• On Instagram, have your child pull up their profile. Click on the user name at the top of the screen. If there are additional accounts registered to that user, they will drop down.

• On TikTok, have your child pull up their profile. At the top of the screen, if their user name has an arrow next to it, they have additional accounts. Click on the arrow and the other accounts will appear.

Deleted or hidden apps: Check to see if your kids have deleted apps they are still using. Sometimes kids download an app, use it, then delete it so parents can't see they have it.

• For an iPhone: From your child's device, go to the App Store > Search > Type in app name > If there is a cloud next to the app, that means your child has had the app at some point.

• For an iPhone: From your child's device, go to the App Store > Tap the user icon in the top right corner > Tap “Purchased” at the top, and this will show a complete inventory of every app that has been downloaded from the App Store with the Apple ID that the device is using.

• For Android: From your child's device, open the Google Play store app > Tap the menu button (three lines) > Tap My apps & games to see a list of apps currently installed on the device.