Mobiles really are everywhere. It seems at times that nearly every child out there has a mobile phone, so when the time does come for your child to ask you for a phone, you may be under a lot of pressure to say yes. It’s important to understand that your child having a phone does not mean that they are in any danger, but it does mean that as a parent, you need to be aware of the risks that having a phone can pose if you don’t take the right steps in ensuring your child’s safety.
Contacting Others
When your child has a phone, or when they are using their phone on social media, do they actually know the person who they are talking to? If you know that your child has a surge of new friends on social media it may be worth finding out how old they are, how they know them and why they want to talk to them. Strangers often add other people on social media in an attempt to get new connections, and this can be dangerous if you have a child. It also helps to make sure that your child is not accessing content that they shouldn’t be, such as games that are above their age level or even chat rooms. If you know that your child wants to use a chat room, then consider downloading a safe children’s app. This will give your child access to a huge range of chat rooms that are all proven to be safe for kids.
Phone Free Times
The next thing that you can do is make sure that you set some phone-free times for your child. When you do this, you can limit the exposure that they have to the internet. It also helps to monitor your child when they are using their phone. This is especially the case in the first few months that they start using it, so that you can guide them through the whole process while also showing them how to use the phone safely.
Purchases
The app store is full of things to buy, which may be very appealing to your child. Children should know whether or not they are allowed to buy something but it does help for you to keep a record of any history so that you know if they have purchased something by accident. You also need to enforce boundaries as to what they can purchase and when, and even then, it should only be with your permission.
Apps
Apps such as Snapchat can be very popular with kids, and it helps to have a range of settings in place to make sure that the only people who can send your child snaps are their friends. You can also set it so that nobody else can get in contact without your permission by installing a third party app, and this is a brilliant way for you to monitor the messages that your child is sending and even the amount of time they are actually spending on the app. Some apps even allow you to set certain times that the app can be used, so this is ideal if they have homework or if you want to limit their time on the phone.
This is a collaborative post and may contain affiliate links