It’s not unusual for children to start hiding things from their parents. Social media activity is one of the main things they hide when they are trying to avoid criticism and punishment. Thus, parents become concerned that their teenagers are putting themselves in danger.
According to statistics, 46% of teens’ parents are scared that their children are exposed to explicit content by using social media. And this is only one of today’s concerns and risks.
Still, children know how to hide things from their parents by deleting messages. As a rightfully concerned parent, your question is probably, “How to stop my child from deleting text messages?” We’ve compiled a list of solutions that you can use for Android phone users.
Why Do Kids Delete Their Text Messages?
While you are wondering, “Can I prevent my child from deleting text messages on Android?” your teenager may be wondering how to keep everything hidden. As a parent, it’s normal to be concerned since you don’t know what your kid is getting into.
Children delete their text and social media messages for different reasons. Although sometimes they might be meddling where they shouldn’t, many times they’re simply trying to avoid criticism.
They might worry that you’ll question every inside joke used with their friends. Other times, they might want to hide the fact that you’ve just scolded them about spending too much time on the computer.
Here are some of the most common reasons why children delete their text messages:
- They made a mistake and regret sending that message.
- Deleting messages gives them a sense of control over their own privacy.
- They are trying to avoid discussions about grades or messages you might criticize.
- They may be trying to free up storage space, especially on an older device.
- The conversation marked the end of a friendship/relationship with someone.
- They might be hiding evidence of potentially problematic behavior.
How to Stop My Kid from Deleting Text Messages on Android?
So, you’ve noticed missing messages in your teenager’s conversations. This makes you think about how to stop your kid from deleting text messages. Android doesn’t have any built-in features for blocking message deletion, but you can use other strategies to prevent it from happening:
Think About Why You Want to See the Messages
Why do you want to see deleted messages on Android? Just because your child deleted something, it doesn’t automatically mean that they are up to something bad. They may be trying to maintain their privacy, or they may have made a mistake and regretted sending that message to begin with.
If you have good reasons to suspect that something more serious is going on – stranger conversations, alcohol, drugs, or bullying – you can take further action.
Speak to Your Child Calmly
Being angry out of pure concern for your child is completely normal. However, the last thing you want is being too harsh and causing them to shut down the conversation. Stay calm and talk to them with a loving and good-natured mindset.
Offer Them the Opportunity to Explain
Do not immediately jump to conclusions and interrupt your child when they are trying to explain. Listen to everything in a supportive manner and don’t judge. You won’t know the truth unless you hear it directly from the source.
Being loving and supportive will show your kid that you’re trustworthy, so they might be willing to open up about their messages, whether they’re a big deal or not.
How to Retrieve Deleted Text Messages on Android?
If everything else fails but you cannot get rid of your worries, your next question might be, “How can I see my child’s deleted texts on Android?” Luckily, deleted texts may not always be permanently gone. With the right app setup, you can easily gain access to them and check on your kid.
Here are some of the top methods you can use:
Parentaler – The Best Way to See Deleted Messages on Android
Parentaler is an application that captures someone’s message data in real time. This means that the information is collected before it has the chance to be erased. It’s a good parenting app because it has monitoring features that help you dig a bit deeper, putting your mind at ease without your kid being aware that you’re seeing their activity.
Parentaler offers round-the-clock support for parents who want to check what their children are doing on their smartphones. It can take a look at text messages, social media activity, but also location, calls, photos, and videos. You can even keep your child away from inappropriate websites and apps with special blocking features.
The SMS and text messages monitoring lets you see all the calls and texts that your teenager received on their device. You can also check messages that were sent and received, as well as deleted texts.
Check the Recycle Bin
When you want to find out how to retrieve deleted text messages on Android, you can also look in the “Trash” folder. Applications such as Google Messages and Samsung Messages have a recycle bin section where deleted texts go. They usually stay there for around 30 days.
To retrieve deleted messages on a Samsung device, you can follow these steps:
- Go to the Samsung messaging app.
- Tap the three dots in the top right section of the screen.
- Tap on the Trash or Recycle Bin folder.
- Look through the deleted messages available and select the ones you want to restore.
- Tap on Restore or Restore All.
See Child’s Deleted Texts on Android via Google
Google Drive can back up certain data from a device if backups are enabled. This method only works if the phone’s backup option is enabled before the texts are deleted. Once activated, you can use another phone to restore the deleted data.
Follow these steps:
- Go to your phone’s Settings, then go to Google and Manage Backup.
- Look at the date under Backup by Google One.
- In your Settings, access System or System & Updates.
- Choose the Reset button or Reset options, then Factory data reset, and then Erase all data.
- Tap on Reset phone or Erase Everything after entering your password, pattern, or PIN code.
- Select Let’s Go and Copy Your Data on your Welcome Screen. Make sure you are connected to Wi-Fi.
- Tap on Backup from the Cloud, then log into the Google Account.
- Choose the items you want to restore, then tap Restore to start recovering the data. “SMS & MMS messages” is the option for texts.
Conclusion
Are you wondering how to prevent your child from deleting texts? You can start by having a serious, calm discussion about why they erase messages. If the friendly approach fails, you could try using Parentaler for parental control.
You can also check their recycle bin folder or use Google backup to restore deleted messages. All these methods will help you keep your child safe if you suspect they’re involved with the wrong people.
