As adults, I’m sure we ALL love our mobile phones. I know I feel very uneasy if mine is out of my possession for more than a few minutes (I blame that on the job!). Our mobile phones allow us to communicate with friends, work from anywhere, feel safe wherever we are and let’s not forget entertaining us. However, should we be giving mobiles to our children? From what age is a mobile phone appropriate? If we do take the plunge and give our child a mobile phone, how can we make sure they stay safe?
As children progress through school the subject of mobiles will start to crop up frequently. Your kids might be at an age when they have already started to ask for their own phone. For many parents, giving their child a mobile phone will be a good way to help them communicate with home if needed and also give them a feeling of safety.
When your toddler is using a tablet, the risks are far less than a school aged child having free unsupervised access to the internet via their mobile phone. Here are some of the potentially negative issues and how to overcome them to ensure everyone stays safe and happy.
Some potential issues with mobile phones in schools
Remembering the school rules
The majority of schools won’t allow phones to be turned on during school hours. If children forget (which is highly likely!), then they could get into trouble. So they may need some help learning the ‘school rules’ to make sure they stay in the teacher’s good books.
The negative side of social media
We have all heard terrible stories about children who have suffered from bullying via social media networks. Sadly, as amazing as social networks can be, there’s a dark and unpleasant side that we, as parents, need to be very aware of. Personally, I would only allow my daughter on platforms suitable for her age and her use will be heavily monitored. The main social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest all have a 13+ age restriction, which I’m not sure all parents are aware of.
I also think it’s absolutely necessary for you to have the passwords/user names for their accounts, so you can monitor them. I would follow my daughter’s accounts too, so I’m always in the loop and can spot any issues immediately, before they get out of hand.
The location feature on networks such as Instagram, means that, if used, your children could be easily located by others. This is why it’s really important for parents to know the ins and outs of each social network.
The unexpected bills!
In-app purchases could lead to unexpected high bills, so I would set a password for any purchases on their phone that only you know. There are security systems like Kaspersky Security Cloud which allows you to add safety settings on mobile phones and tablets. This is perfect for using on children’s phones. You can also add viewing restrictions to limit the amount of time (and the actual times) your child can get online. It can also block material which isn’t age appropriate.
Target for theft
Mobile phones are very desirable to thieves. There are a few things to reduce the chances that your child will have their phone stolen. Firstly, they need to know that phones are valuable and must be looked after. It is important that they understand that some other people might wish to take their phone and so they need to keep their phones securely out of sight to reduce this risk. We can also help as parents by not giving them top of the range phones.
There is no doubt that mobiles could help your child feel connected and safe, but the above factors must be kept in mind.
Children need to realise the potentially negative side, so that they have heightened awareness and are open with us parents. We need to state what is acceptable and what’s not. Make sure they realise what they can share and what is not acceptable or even potentially harmful. They need to know how to avoid being targeted by thieves and maybe most importantly of all they need to share any negativity directed at them with their parents.
Although the negative effects of social media and children can be potentially catastrophic for families, there is a lot you can do to manage situations before they get this far. Fostering a open communication is an absolute must. We can’t protect our children if we don’t know what’s happening. As they get older the balance will undoubtedly change to them being allowed more privacy. However, hopefully by this point they will be more social media savvy and less susceptible to falling victim to the negativity.
Using effective safety products and keeping open conversations means that our children can experience the positive benefits to having a mobile phone, without us parents having to constantly worry!
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.