Sudbury Parents Create Online Safety Monitoring Program

Some of you may have read blog posts by Sudbury Patch blogger and Internet safety advocate Victoria Kempf. Or you may have seen one of her Internet safety presentations.  

Kempf, a 20-year resident of Sudbury, and her husband, Mark, are also the co-founders of ScreenRetriever, a children’s computer monitoring software tool for parents. 

"In this digital age, many parents worry when their kids go online," she said. "They worry about what sites they’re visiting and who they might be chatting with. They worry about cyberbullying and online predators. They worry about what they’re posting and who they’re friending. They wonder if what their children are doing online might impact their college acceptance or their future employment."

Kempf says parents have good reason to worry, because of some alarming facts:

• 28% of teens chat with people they don’t know in the offline world;
• 30% of teens sext;
• 40% of children have been cyberbullied;
• 43% of teens intentionally access simulated violence online;
• 44.8% of teens visit a website parents disapprove of;
• 55% of teens have given out personal info to someone they don’t know;

Kempf, an RN, and her husband, a computer engineer, both parents themselves, created ScreenRetriever, a software application that helps parents worry less and nurture more. 

“Screen Retriever is a computer monitoring tool that lets parents easily see all of their child’s computer, so parents can teach safe, appropriate, responsible computer behavior," Kempf said. "At the same time, the application lets the child know the parent is watching, so there are no secrets and trust is maintained.  Parents can either check in on their child’s computer activity live, or scroll through hours of computer activity in minutes using the recording feature – no Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr etc. passwords required."

But that’s just the beginning. Kempf said development is underway for “ScreenRetiever Everywhere,” including mobile devices like smart phones and tablets rather than an application limited to PCs. Equally important, ScreenRetriever is designing an integrated parent community that will offer parents threat intelligence, expert opinion and parent contributions about the sites and pages their children visit. Parents will even be able to create a white list (individual parent approved sites) for younger children.

To the Kempf's goals of getting on Macs and mobile devices, they need visibility.  That’s why they’ve entered an exciting competition that will bring them the visibility they need.

"The small business competition sponsored by Intuit is to win a 30-second ad in this year’s Superbowl," she said. "Wouldn’t it be cool to see a Sudbury product in the Superbowl?"  

To vote, click on the following link: https://www.smallbusinessbiggame.com/ma/SCREENRETRIEVER---A-Childrens-Computer-Monitoring-Tool/381284

"Parents are the first line of defense when it comes to online safety and teaching responsible, appropriate online behavior,” she said.  

Kempf hopes that with enough votes she and her husband will be able to help keep kids safe online using all computer/mobile devices. 

“The more parents know, the safer our kids will be,” she said.

She also recommends that parents check out their Online Safety and Behavior Center, where parents can find information about online safety issues and stay on top of their children’s digital world.