The App Allows Parents to Send Emergency Messages That Kids Cannot Ignore
When you give your child a smartphone, the thought usually arises that it will be much easier to contact him. In fact, in many cases it is easier for your child to connect with friends and ignore you. A new app called ReplyASAP solves this problem for you by letting you send text messages to which your kids will have no choice but to reply.
Once you have it installed on your child’s phone, messages that you, as a parent, send through the app will trigger a beep on your child’s phone and continue to sound until he or she looks at the message. The alarm will then stop ringing, but you will also receive a notification that your child has seen the message “Go home immediately!” message. This means that the excuse “My phone was silent” or “I didn’t see it” kind of goes out the window.
Don’t use something like this to write to your child all the time.
If every message you send to your child is sent through this app, then I think there are more serious communication problems in your relationship for which a nasty app won’t be the solution, in fact, it could make things a little worse. … And if your child is a teenager, sending him a screaming message when he can use his smartphone to determine the route while driving seems like a danger.
This is unpleasant, potentially dangerous and, at the very least, will be extremely alienating to the child with whom you already find it difficult to talk. Plus, let’s face it, any smart kid can figure out how to remove tihng.
However, I think it’s a good idea as a “last resort” when traditional calls and text messages don’t work and you really need to get in touch with your child. For example, when my grandmother died, I missed a few calls from my parents and didn’t think about it. The ability to send an emergency message literally screaming “No really, call me” could be helpful. Or, if you’ve done the smart thing and sent a few other messages in traditional ways, this could be the final straw in your attempt to connect.