While parents may in some ways like their kids having a cell phone, there are certainly some downfalls (e.g. texting in class). But beyond just sending an LOL to their friends while the teacher is talking, law enforcement continues to warn that kids and cell phones can be a dangerous mix.

Robert Lotter, CEO and inventor of My Mobile Watchdog, says that he hopes to offer a way for parents to monitor and control their child's cell phone use. Lotter says that My Mobile Watchdog has helped in the apprehension of 308 child predators, with a 100 percent conviction rate.

My Mobile Watchdog allows parents to fine-tune their child's cell phone usage by giving them the tools to define approved contacts and turn on and off such features as camera and texting. If a stranger (someone not approved as a friend) contacts a child, the parents are immediately sent a message with a transcript of the communication.

While it may sound like over-the-top snooping to some, a conversation with Lotter, who has seen the worst of the worst, might persuade a skeptic that a little parental oversight is warranted in this day and age of high-tech kids.

Lotter does a lot of work with law enforcement and says that it used to be that the common denominator for almost all predator crimes was that the perpetrator was familiar with the victim and had a position of authority. Cell phones, he says, have turned that equation on its head. "The condition of anonymity has turned out to be far more dangerous," he says, describing situations where predators pose as other kids on social networks, soliciting cell phone numbers.

"What happens is that kids know they're not supposed to talk to strangers, but that doesn't transfer over to other kids, and so they're more likely to give a 30-year-old predator, posing as a 15-year-old, their number."

In the United States, My Mobile Watchdog is a phone-based solution that works primarily on smartphones (iPhone, BlackBerry and Android), as well 25 Brew devices on Verizon Wireless, but Lotter says he's already deploying with China Mobile as a carrier-based solution.

Because kids don't typically have smartphones, he understands that it's imperative that his solution work on every phone. He has seen interest from U.S. carriers and envisions the service being offered as a per-month add-on that will work on any phone.