Cell phones have become an integral part of society and mostly for the right reasons. It is needed for communication and assurance that a family member is safe in another location. A mobile phone helps you to conduct long talks with people that can’t be with you. And regarding the safety of a child on another site, their cell phone can play an essential role in helping them get support.
So, a phone is essential in kids’ lives as well, but the increasing threat that it is spreading among children is grand. Children spend too many hours and hurt themselves physically with too much screen time and mentally due to stress from social media and games. If not supervised well, this device can make your kid’s life destructive.
Below are some prime ways of promoting safety on your child’s phone:
Educate
Before showing your child a brand new mobile phone with all its glory and shiny surface, make sure to tell them about its constructive use. You can start by showing them the basics of instant messaging with you and how to contact you urgently in emergencies. Then you can educate them about the sound systems of the device including, screen locks, turning on silent modes, alongside that make sure to inform your kids how to stay away from unknown calls and messages.
Install Controls
No matter how much you trust your child or want them to pave their own ways in life, holding some things back for their safety is essential. With a mobile phone, you can set parental controls and hinder some activities. These can be allowing calls from a number of contacts only, limiting the apps downloaded from the store, prohibiting toxic social environments, and more. You can also set a phone tracker app to know your child’s whereabouts in addition to controlling activities so that you can reach them anytime you can’t get them on the phone.
Limit Usage
Children are children, and they have their ways of getting the things they want. They will always go toward that one thing that you keep disallowing them. And anything you say can backfire against you in order to keep your kid safe from the unfamiliar world of the internet. However, leaving them with a mobile phone day and night can severely hurt their routine and affect their body and mind badly. What you can do is administer a pattern of mobile usage for your kid from the start and make them follow it. If they are not restricted from the beginning, they can go beyond limits as they are just kids.
Make Privacy Vital
Whether your kid is a girl or a boy, his/her privacy is paramount. And the mobile phone is known for exposing the privacy of a person in many ways. For eliminating all possibilities of privacy threat, teach your kids about the importance of it. Tell them not to disclose their phone number to people openly, especially to strangers, or post it on the internet. Advise them to keep their information hidden with privacy settings on social media and keep personal images and videos locked in the phone.
