New App Makes It Difficult For Teens To Ignore a Parent's Call or Text

   By drodriguez  Aug 23, 2014

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If you believe your teenager has the eye roll/ignore phone call move down to a science whenever you try to reach them then you’ll be happy to hear about a new app that makes it a lot more difficult for teens to put off responding to our texts and phone calls. For most parents, the whole point of giving teens a cell phone is so that we can check in on them when they’re away from home. But many kids defeat this purpose when they decide to ignore our phone calls or texts while having fun with friends.

CBS News reports about a new app developed by a mom who wanted a better way of keeping tabs on her teenagers. Sharon Standifird’s worry quickly turned to frustration when she realized her teens were safe but just ignoring her phone calls. She explains how her idea for the app “Ignore No More” was born saying, “We need to develop an app that just shuts their phone completely down and they can’t even use it. And I started — literally just started researching how to develop an app.”

The way the app works is it locks the teens phone if they don’t answer their parent’s call or text. The teen must then call the parents or a parent-selected contact to get the password to unlock the phone. Not having access to any games, friend contacts, or texting is a surefire way to get a teen’s attention. Stanfird says of her son Bradley’s use of the app, “Bradley needs to call me because I’m the person that has the unlock password. It takes away texting, it takes away the gaming, it takes away calling their friends. The child will always be able to call 911.” Stanfird is happy with the app and her son’s quicker response to phone calls.

What sort of agreement do you and your teens have about checking in when they’re out?

Does the “Ignore No More” app sound like something that might work in your household?