It's definitely something any parent can relate to: your teenage son or daughter ignoring your calls or text messages. Fortunately for frustrated parents everywhere, a certain mom decided that enough was enough.
Sharon Standifir hails from New York City, and just like any other disgruntled parent, she had had her fair share of being-ignored-by-your-teenager stories. So one day, she made a decision to create an app so that she won't have to be subjected to any mobile silent treatment again by any of her kids.
The end product is Ignore No More, an app which Standifir came up with after working with developers for several months. The app works simple enough -- it allows parents to lock their kids' smartphones using a separate device (preferably the parents' own phone or mobile device).
What exactly happens when the teenager's phone is locked? Well, the screen goes dark for starters. Access to games and social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram is instantly gone.
The kids who are guilty of ignoring their dad or mom on the phone have no choice then but to call certain numbers (selected by their parents, which includes 911) in order to unlock their handsets. Regaining access to their phones typically involves getting the unlock password, which almost always is held by one or both parents.
Teenagers, at least the guileful ones, are quite fond of using the excuse that they didn't receive any text message. Parents of course may find this excuse rather too convenient and are not too happy being at the receiving end of it. That's why it makes a lot of sense that many parents are beginning to like the idea of an app like Ignore No More.
As for Standifir, she can certainly attest to the app's effectiveness. She admits that ever since the app was installed in her teenage son's smartphone, there was an improvement in the way her kid responds to her calls and text messages. According to her, her son now replies to her messages more frequently and returns her calls more quickly than he used to.
Admittedly, there's one drawback for the Ignore No More app. You have to get hold of your teenager kid's smartphone long enough to download the app and then activate it. So if you can't even get your son or daughter to lend you their phones for just a minute, the app's usefulness becomes moot. But if installing the app in your kid's device is not a problem at all, then score one for parental control.
The Ignore No More app is available for download on the Google Play Store. As of now, the app is only available for Android users, but there have been reports that an iOS version is already under way.
