Brain Surgeon Answers Apple Shareholders Concerns

Social Judo™ , a parental smartphone iOS and Android app built by concerned dads address the two big shareholders of Apple (AAPL, -0.28%) who are concerned that the entrancing qualities of the iPhone have fostered a public health crisis that could hurt children—and the company as well.

“We have built the very product to address the issues that Jana Partners LLC and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System have outlined in their letter to Apple”, says Dr. Matthew Philips, prominent New England brain surgeon and  president of Social Judo™.  

Social Judo™ using IBM Watson technology has developed a patented product that does not require a parent to spy on a child while at the same time, allowing a parent to get SMS text alerts to “parenting moments” when children misuse a smartphone, says Philips.

Dr. Matthew Philips, along with a wall street banker, a technology evangelist and a corporate lawyer, all dads of kids with smartphones, combined efforts to work on this very issue. Social Judo™ is using the power of the internet against the power of the internet. Philips has become a nationally recognized thought leader on children addicted to smartphones. 

To be fair, the issue is not just with Apple says Philips, Google with its Android OS has similar issues and it should be known that children using either iOS or Android smartphones are experiencing the same addiction issues. Social Judo™ sends SMS alerts to parent’s smartphones based on the algorithms developed and deployed with its patented technology in conjunction with IBM Watson.

Parenting a child on a smartphone is difficult says Philips, but doing nothing about the problem was not the answer, that is why myself and three other dads set out on a journey to change the paradigm on how you parent your child on a smartphone.Machine learning databases of bullying terms, sexting terms, suicidal key phrases, profanity usage and more are checked. “It’s a parenting moment” when your child’s phone sends you an alert from Social Judo™, says Andrea DiFilippo, LICSW, Chief Parenting Officer of Social Judo™.

“Social Judo™ is where good parents become smarter parents,” says Philips, “We are looking forward to having the opportunity to help parents keep their families much more safe and secure and we are reaching out to Apple and to Google to begin a dialog showcasing our efforts.”  Every parent of a teen or tween needs to be involved in addressing this issue.

The name Social Judo™ embodies the concept of a martial art; it envisions using the power of the internet to protect children from the power of the internet. The idea is leveraging the good parts of the internet to counter the bad parts of the internet, just like the martial art of Judo uses the power of an opponent to leverage the outcome of a contest.

Parents can enjoy these Social Judo™ benefits without “Jail Breaking” or “Rooting” their phones – a very important factor for parents who don't want to void phone warranties, which can occur with some installed applications. 

Feedback from parents around the country has already been very positive. Carla M., from Rhode Island, recently said in a five-star review,

“Social Judo™ woke me up to some very inappropriate messages being sent by an older boy to my 14-year-old daughter and I was able to put an end to it before it became something else.  Every parent of a young teen should make sure they have Social Judo™ installed.  Fully recommended.”