Why We Built ParentSEE: A Different Approach to Parental Monitoring
I was sitting on the couch with my wife while my two young children were playing on their tablets when it hit me. How do we know what they are doing? Of course, I could peek over their shoulders, but there had to be a better way. I wanted visibility without influencing their behavior. I wanted to be able to understand them better based on what they were doing in the digital world. As I had this thought, I also had a realization. That I was not alone. I felt inspired. I wanted to help other parents understand their kids' device usage without invading their privacy and breaking their trust.
I knew that other solutions existed that provided the ability to do something similar, but they were all very heavy handed. I wasn't looking for a way to control, just to understand and be able to use that knowledge to connect with them. It was an internal battle, how do you meet them on their level without enforcing strict limitations and inhibiting their natural curiosity and creativity?
I didn't need to cling tightly to control to have insight into their digital world. I could give them the trust they deserve and still have the peace of mind of knowing that I could still get alerted if there was a problem. That I didn't need to use full control to have conversations.
How ParentSEE Works
ParentSEE works by monitoring DNS queries, the addresses your child's device connects to. Think of it like seeing the street addresses your child visits, without knowing what happens inside. You'll see that they spent time on YouTube and TikTok after school. You won't see what they watched or who they messaged. The difference is meaningful.
With ParentSEE we give the power back to the parents by showing them where their kids are going on the internet or what apps they are using. But we didn't stop at just showing you the data. ParentSEE uses AI to generate conversation starters based on your child's activity. Instead of "I saw you were on Instagram," you get something like "your child has been exploring music content on Spotify and YouTube. Consider asking about what artists they're into right now." It turns monitoring data into conversation opportunities.
What We Will Never Do
We will never track location, or read messages. We will never break the trust of children and invade privacy. This is not a missing feature, this is our philosophy.
If you want to know what it feels like to reconnect with your kids. What it feels like to meet them on their level. What it feels like to have insight without harming your relationships, give us a try. We offer a 14-day free trial. It may be the first step towards taking back the feeling of safety and connection with your kids.