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NASHUA, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — When it comes to whether to track children's activity online, many parents and kids seem to disagree strongly. One local public school counselor believes a new phone designed to track social media use and mental health is a great idea... while some students are worried about their privacy.
The Aqua One smartphone is meant to monitor children's online activity without restricting them. The phone allows "unlimited parental monitoring" and sends alerts to parents when children access potentially concerning or explicit photos or videos. The Aqua One is also used to monitor kids' mental health with check-in questions every day that parents can view.
Nashua Public School Counselor Karyn Wojtas believes the Aqua phone could help prevent students from participating in "risky" activity online.
"I'm noticing since more and more kids especially the ones I work with have gotten cell phones, they're getting themselves in more and more trouble, there's sexting going on in middle schools which is a little bit alarming," said Wojtas.
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One local parent is concerned that younger children have access to see anything online without supervision.
"It just seems like everything is wide open and unless a parent is monitoring that they can just see about anything," one parent told WBZ's Kim Tunnicliffe.
Tunnicliffe spoke with some students at Patriot Place shopping center who felt the Aqua phone is an invasion of privacy.
"Yeah I would be a little hesitant it's my life I don't really want [my parents] nose in everything," one local student said.
"It's an invasion of privacy, it makes me feel like I'm being watched," 11-year-old Naomi said.
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